Censorship Creep on Social Media Former Staffers of Ocasio-Cortez Have Formed a PAC to Act as an Enforcement Arm for the Progressive Left So, What Do Never Trump Republicans Do Now … This concept was a founding principle that is now in jeopardy because of the monopoly power wielded by social media giants. Ron DeSantis Takes Aim At Social Media Platforms Over ‘Censorship’ TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) — Gov. Censorship On Social Media : NPR. “Because we are using the services and the website of a private … In contrast, my company, MeWe, has no targeting, no newsfeed manipulation and no way for advertisers, marketers or political operatives to boost anything to users. Florida Gov. Musician Joy Villa's red carpet dresses at the past three years' Grammy Awards were embellished with pro-Trump messages that cemented her as an outspoken darling of the conservative movement. Most of us are aware of how pervasive social media censorship has become over the last few years. Ocasio-Cortez has now reportedly encouraged her supporters to report social media … On May 11, Twitter announced it would add labels to tweets with false or disputed information about COVID-19, and Facebook already started adding similar labels. Amid ongoing criticism, Facebook commissioned an independent review, headed by former Republican Senator Jon Kyl, to investigate accusations of anti-conservative bias. According to MIT research, when people see that some posts on social media have warning labels, they’re far more likely to assume, incorrectly, that all the posts without these warning labels have been verified by fact-checkers. As a result, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and the other social-media giants have cranked up their censorship into overdrive, but they are ignoring the structural problems that allow misinformation to be boosted on their platforms in the first place. Biases can be built into the algorithms by the programmers who designed them, even if it's unintentional. Obviously social media firms have a legal right to restrict content on their sites; but this works both ways. According to the platforms' recent transparency reports, from April to June 2020, nearly 95% of comments flagged as hate speech on Facebook were detected by AI; and on YouTube 99.2% of comments removed for violating Community Standards were flagged by AI. The community standards does not take into account the homophobia, and the violence, and how all those things intersect. The Solution to Social Media Censorship Is Simple One has to support the property rights, and consequently, free speech of his political enemies in order to uphold that of his. Censorship is often counterproductive and amplifies what was meant to be muzzled. We work with external experts and affected communities around the world to develop our policies and have a global team dedicated to enforcing them," Facebook said in a statement. We've received your submission. The 'Common Carrier' Solution to Social-Media Censorship | RealClearPolitics MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT On Social Media Censorship. Tucker Carlson has slammed an NYC study that claimed there is no real censorship of conservatives on social media as 'farcical' - after the authors admitted there is no evidence to support … This is how MeWe operates. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. While Villa and others on the right have been vocal about their complaints, activists on the opposite side of the political spectrum say their online speech frequently ends up being quashed for reasons that have gotten far less attention. 77,726, This story has been shared 74,656 times. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and the other social-media giants have cranked up their censorship. These companies allow marketers and purveyors of misinformation to pay to boost content to targeted audiences most susceptible to believing it. Watch the new CBSN Originals documentary, "Speaking Frankly | Censorship," in the video player above. For instance, you should not share obscene imagery or … "Social media censorship" bill proposed. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) apparently expects her supporters to cover for her lying. Villa disputed that, but once she blurred out the face of someone who didn't want to be seen in the video, YouTube put it back online, and her video remains visible on the platform today. "Unfortunately tech is made up of a homogenous group, mostly White and Asian males, and so what happens is the opinions, the experiences that go into this decision-making are reflective of a majority group. Uganda cut off social media because of election concerns, prompting Twitter officials to ironically care about themselves being censored. This widespread censorship of ideas would make George Orwell dizzy and runs counter to the whole purpose of social networking. "I had released my 'Make America Great Again" music video on YouTube, and within a few hours it got taken down by YouTube," Villa told CBSN Originals. I have been flagged for violent content when showing images about racism and about transphobia.". Terms of Use The companies have the ability to decide what speech they will allow. "And so when people talk about, 'Well, if I get kicked off of Facebook, that's an attack on my free speech or on my First Amendment right' — that's just not true. Two years ago, Trump went after Twitter with an executive order that would have limited legal protections accorded to social media … Carolyn Wysinger, an activist who provided Facebook feedback and guidance about minority users' experience on the platform, told CBSN Originals that implicit bias is a problem that permeates content moderation decisions at most social media platforms. 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All Rights Reserved, Kylie Jenner revives upside-down 'underboob' bikini craze, Glenn Greenwald blasts Facebook for censoring dissenting vaccine opinions, Trump will still be banned from Twitter even if he returns to White House, NY Times defends journalist after she tweeted another reporter's number, Woman in Gorilla Glue horror will ‘see a surgeon’ for removal, Model ex-girlfriend of soccer star found dead week after breakup, North West's oil painting verified by TikTok user. It doesn't have the ability for nuanced decision-making in regards to this," said Wysinger. College students, after all, can’t block or mute bad speech. But she adds, "I would be surprised if that were the case in part because on most days the most popular, most visited groups on Facebook and pages on Facebook are very conservative ones. The Biden administration, Big Tech, Big Media, Big Pharma, the DOJ, the FBI and the courts joined forces to steal the 2020 election for Joe Biden. In our current period of COVID-19, what information is “true” is changing at an unprecedented pace. © 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Moderation, I can tell you firsthand, is one of the most important and challenging aspects of social media. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said he believes the platform "should enable as much expression as possible," and that social media companies "shouldn't be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online.". But a recent commentary by Daniel Gelernter illustrates how bizarre some of the censorship … And that growing solidarity could increase … The widespread censorship we’re currently witnessing runs contrary to this purpose. "What it does censor is name calling, fake news articles and fighting words." NPR's Lakshmi Singh talks to … Of course not. Your Ad Choices "Protecting free expression while keeping people safe is a challenge that requires constant refinement and improvement. 566,073, This story has been shared 77,726 times. Posted at 7:24 AM, Jan 14, 2021 . AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - Social media censoring certain posts is an issue being seen across the country, even in Amarillo. Social media was intended to be a place where good people of all stripes are free to express themselves and share opinions authentically. "We hear that there is an anti-conservative bias on the part of Facebook or other platforms because conservatives keep saying that," said Susan Benesch, executive director of the Dangerous Speech Project, an organization based in Washington D.C. that has advised Facebook, Twitter, Google and other internet companies on how to diminish harmful content online while protecting freedom of speech. Tuesday, May 21, … In January, the World Health Organization falsely tweeted that COVID-19 could not spread from person to person; in March, it recommended against wearing a mask if you are not sick. A YouTube spokesperson said Villa's video wasn't flagged over something she said, but due to a privacy complaint. According to the ACLU, censorship, “the suppression of words, images, or ideas that are “offensive,” happens whenever some people succeed in imposing their personal political or moral values on others. Kerby Anderson. And so people from different backgrounds — Black, Latino, different religions, conservative, liberal — don't have the accurate representation that they would if these companies were more diverse," said Mark Luckie, a digital strategist who previously worked at Twitter, Reddit and Facebook. Anger over perceived censorship by social media companies is bridging the divide between far-right extremist groups and Trump supporters. Twitter has not. The former is any kind of content intended to … Villa saw it as part of a pattern of social media companies trying to shut down conservative voices — an accusation that many other like-minded users, including President Trump … “Rightness” about a position, whether it is related to politics, medicine, health, fitness, science or anything else, has often been reversed or changed over time. In addition, I've led technical teams, built social sites and mobile apps, and consulted on mobile, social, and IoT. According to Fernandez, the focus should be on requiring tech companies to publicly reveal their moderation rules and tactics. "In the community standards, white men are a protected class, the same as a black trans woman is. A new report concludes that social networks aren't systematically biased against conservatives, directly contradicting Republican claims that social media companies are censoring … 74,656, This story has been shared 56,234 times. And a statement from Twitter said, "Twitter does not use political ideology to make any decisions whether related to ranking content on our service or how we enforce our rules. Most Americans Think Social Media Sites Censor Political Viewpoints Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to say major tech companies favor the views of liberals over conservatives. Big Tech companies are aggressively tamping down on COVID-19 “misinformation”... Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Do Not Sell My Personal Information, Your California Privacy Rights But reliable data on the subject is scarce, and social media platforms are largely secretive about how they make decisions on content moderation. Our policies have no notion of political affiliation or party, and we enforce them consistently regardless of who the uploader is," said YouTube spokesperson Alex Joseph. With over 500,000 followers across Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, Villa refers to her social media community as her "Joy Tribe," and a few years ago she enlisted them to help wage a public battle against what she claimed was YouTube's attempt to censor her. Following Wednesday’s … Now they continue their illegal and unconstitutional actions with unconstitutional executive orders and continued censorship of Americans on social media. With the COVID-19 pandemic, social networks have been under greater pressure than ever to police their platforms to prevent the spread of misinformation. Users need to deliberately seek out information for themselves and cannot be targeted by others who wish to reach and manipulate their thoughts. Benesch points out, "We have virtually zero oversight regarding take-down, so in truth content moderation is more complicated than just take it down or leave it up," referring to the fact that, to date, there has been little publicly available data provided by tech companies to allow an evaluation of the process. In the last two years, two congressional hearings have focused on the question of tech censorship. President Donald Trump tweeted from the official @POTUS account following his permanent ban from Twitter, condemning the … They're not the government.". This misperception is exacerbated by the fact that only a fraction of posts with false or unverified information are checked and marked as such. This is unfair censorship.'". Social media was intended to be a place where good people of all stripes are free to express themselves and share opinions authentically. "At YouTube, we've always had policies that lay out what can and can't be posted. A 2019 review of over 400 political pages on Facebook, conducted by the left-leaning media watchdog Media Matters, found conservative pages performed about equally as well as liberal ones. But those who study the tech industry's practices say that deciding what content stays up, and what comes down, has nothing to do with "censorship." In fact, from a simple business perspective and to serve the public conversation, Twitter is incentivized to keep all voices on the service.". They are kicking out good users and taking down countless harmless posts, pages and groups simply for asking questions about COVID-19 or presenting opinions that differ with those from the company’s executives and authorities. ", She said she also finds it interesting that "many conservatives or ultra-conservatives complain that the platforms have a bias against them at the same time as Black Lives Matter activists feel that the platforms are disproportionately taking down their content.". Fox News host Tucker Carlson blasted New York University earlier this week for a study in which researchers concluded that there is no real censorship of conservatives on social media. "The First Amendment is very specific: It protects all of us as Americans from the government limiting our speech," he explained. – After President Donald Trump’s removal from several social media platforms, some Republican lawmakers are calling for action against what they call censorship. The basic problem is the micro-targeting business/revenue model of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and all current mainstream social networks. Censorship On Social Media Facebook, Spotify and YouTube have dropped conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. I told my fans: 'Hey listen, YouTube is censoring me. Because social media users are subject to a … Consumers have the right to avoid their services and go to other platforms if they don't … Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Your California Privacy Rights Nonetheless, a recent Pew Research Center survey found that nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults believe social media sites intentionally censor political viewpoints. It’s human nature to want to see what’s forbidden, which is why books sometimes become more popular after they’re banned. Facebook said it "would continue to examine, and where necessary adjust, our own policies and practices in the future.". This is a Band-Aid that does not solve the fundamental issue and can actually create even more problems. If users or groups want to have conversations following these basic rules of conduct and share different viewpoints about politics, religion, sexuality, medical treatments, diets, exercise regimens, supplements, lifestyles, etc., it is not the role of social-media companies to censor such discussions. Sitemap For instance, Wysinger said, "I have been flagged for using imagery of lynching. Should social networks censor the WHO or the president? Copyright © 2021 CBS Interactive Inc.All rights reserved. Of course, some censorship is natural. This is not to say that social-media companies should relinquish moderation altogether and institute an “anything goes” policy. "That means you're putting these community standards in place and you have these bots who are just looking for certain specific things. Pizzagate is a well-known example of this, and two weeks ago, after Facebook had vowed to prevent misinformation, it allowed marketers to target ads to 78 million users interested in “pseudoscience.” Putting warning labels on certain posts with unverified information is a superficial solution that fails to address this structural flaw. It takes all of them as individual things that need to be protected," said Wysinger. The main arguments for social media censorship are that it will get rid of two types of content that some people find problematic: hate speech and 'fake news'. Social media censorship: How do we protect speech and avoid a tech civil war? Villa saw it as part of a pattern of social media companies trying to shut down conservative voices — an accusation that many other like-minded users, including President Trump himself, have leveled against Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter in recent years. Thanks for contacting us. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador … "It's like an abusive relationship, you can't even leave the abusive relationship because you become so used to and dependent on it.". This story has been shared 566,073 times. Social media companies would be required to reveal how they became aware of any content they censor. "Whether we like it or not, we are all on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter all day long, and when they take us off the banned list, I don't know anyone who doesn't post a status on Facebook right away, after the ban is lifted: 'I'm back y'all! '," said Wysinger. 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