Social Media is Killing Free Speech
Tell me, when was the last time you picked up a newspaper and read it? Or turned on the radio and tuned into a news station? Let’s be honest — most of us get our news from social media nowadays. It’s easy and convenient — we get our fair share of current events where checking up our friend’s pics of avocado toast and their travel pics. Harmless right? Do we still question and fact check everything before accepting it as truth? Or do we just buy into what is placed right in front of us when we open up Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc? Just like ads, have we ever questioned if these news or reports have been strategically placed for us to see? If there was a modern way for the government to control our thoughts and beliefs, social media would 100% be the first target.
Social media censorship is dangerous and this is why.
1. Have you ever stopped to read the terms of service of your favorite social media platforms? Many big social media companies have revised its terms of service to more aggressively police content on their platforms. This allows them to have more and more control over what is being said, spread, or promoted on their sites. When we type in terms in the search box, algorithms can be manipulated to ban certain keywords and boost others. When we are recommended content on the homepage, whether that is an Instagram story, a YouTube video, or a Facebook ad, they can be strategically placed to influence people to think a certain way. Each social media platform has a parent company and their terms of service are giving them enough power to dictate what is acceptable speech by citizens. When you choose to use a social media platform, you agree to a terms of service which you probably never read. But you just entered a legal contract with some of the world’s biggest censors of information.
2. The internet and where we receive our news online has become more and more centralized. How many social media apps do you use on a regular basis and get your news from there? I bet most of us can count them on one hand. So what does this mean? Well imagine this. Let’s say that there are 2–3 people in a committee and they provide all content and news to you daily. They have the right to filter through the content and deem what is acceptable or not. If certain keywords or messages do not match with their goals, they can flag, remove, or ban the content. Doesn’t sound great right? If we would not let this happen in real life, why are we so complacent with just believing whatever we see on social media? These companies tightly regulate content on their sites and have unbelievable control over what we see or don’t see. These sites are not public spaces — social media sites are private commercial property in which their parent companies have a lot of control over.
3. Free speech means having the right to express ourselves freely and authentically and determine ourselves what is right or wrong. By restricting or banning content, people are no longer exposed to different arguments and perspectives. Last year, Youtube posted this 4 R’s of Responsibility image and the principles sound nice — keeping their platform open and safe. However, the use of machine learning to remove content as fast as possible, raise and reward certain voices over others, and reduce certain spread of content against their policies should scare you! YouTube has removed more than 17000 channels, 100 000 videos, and 500 million comments since this crackdown in June. Reddit has been banning posts on specific topics. Facebook has been deleting news stories from its feed and promoting fake news ads. Who gave a private company the right to define what the world can or cannot see? People need to be able to understand views different from their own to be able to come to their own conclusion. Even if I do not agree with someone else, I want to be able to hear their side of the argument and where they are coming from. Widespread censorship of online opinions is acting as a disservice to all of us. We won’t actively think of ourselves anymore and just take whatever social media throws in front of us as truth.
I’m not saying that we shouldn’t use social media anymore to raise awareness for social issues and express ourselves. However, we do need to be more aware that big tech is limiting what we see and hear online. Social media censorship is here and alive and we need to be aware of this! Take the extra time to fact check sources before jumping on trendy bandwagons. Stop before you share and you can help stop the spread of fake news. It’s up to all of us to stand up and protect our freedom of speech, online and in our daily lives.
