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Keep aside the accuracy of the NYPost story for a moment. With this move, Facebook and Twitter have effectively backed one political side over the other. Even i

Keep aside the accuracy of the NYPost story for a moment. With this move, Facebook and Twitter have effectively backed one political side over the other. Even if in the nitty-gritty they might not have, this is the perception that is sent out and is the perception that will be played to the hilt by the Trump camp. And timing of this is damning as well, with distrust of big tech and social media rising even before this on all ends of the political spectrum. If by any chance Trump wins next month, this will be the end not only for Facebook and Twitter, but for the wider Internet in general and Social Media in particular. Because if Trump wins, he is not going to let it slide. The destruction of Facebook and Twitter will most certainly done by removing the safe harbors by citing this incident in particular. That will be a bloodbath with a lot casualties of innocent bystanders in Silicon Valley. And the knock-off effects of this will be even more damning. Even if Trump loses, many other countries will take a big, hard look at the possibility of regime change and political interference being done by a bunch of Western Activists. Especially in Asia and Africa, where the memories of Western Imperialism have not yet faded and the wounds are still raw. I am really surprised by the fact that the shareholders, investors and the board of Facebook and Twitter haven't stepped in to stop this or at-least deescalate this, considering they will be loosing a whole lot in this scenario. Or is everyone in Silicon Valley just too drugged out with activism to care about even themselves?

mattnewton 6y ago
I think this is one of the damned if you do, damned if you don’t situations. Twitter and Facebook were largely blamed by traditional media for being a vector of misinformation that harmed the American public in 2016, and suffered a lost of trust then. When they try to combat that, whoever would have benefited from the material being censored will cry fowl, and it was a doomed venture from the start.
- rightbyte 6y ago
  Russia was blamed, not Twitter or Facebook. They were victims ...
throwmeaway_pls 6y ago
They’ve certainly changed my vote. Wow.
- subpixel 6y ago
  Oh please. Taking steps to fight disinformation is enough to drive you into the disinformation camp?
  - jonboy95 6y ago
    Woosh
  - throwawayAXH79 6y ago
    Your dismissive of OP’s reasoning. That tends to reinforce people’s position. My wife is a registered Democrat who’ll be voting for Trump in a swing state. As recently as six months ago she loathed Trump. Her stated reason is that she doesn’t feel like she can be herself, have her own opinions, among Democrats anymore.
zpeti 6y ago
> And the knock-off effects of this will be even more damning. Even if Trump loses, many other countries will take a big, hard look at the possibility of regime change and political interference being done by a bunch of Western Activists. Especially in Asia and Africa, where the memories of Western Imperialism have not yet faded and the wounds are still raw. Awesome point!
arcatech 6y ago
You're talking about backing one side or the other, but are concepts like truth or fact a factor in this argument at all?
caseysoftware 6y ago
> And the knock-off effects of this will be even more damning. Even if Trump loses, many other countries will take a big, hard look at the possibility of regime change and political interference being done by a bunch of Western Activists. Especially in Asia and Africa, where the memories of Western Imperialism have not yet faded and the wounds are still raw. Political interference isn't new or particularly hard. We decades of playbooks dedicated to that courtesy of the CIA, KBG/FSB, etc. In more modern times, we have the Obama State Department (led by Secretary Clinton) working with Twitter to support the protests and overall idea of regime change: https://www.mic.com/articles/10642/twitter-revolution-how-the-arab-spring-was-helped-by-social-media https://www.mic.com/articles/10642/twitter-revolution-how-th... The goals and tactics aren't different, just the target.
vehemenz 6y ago
Pre- political cults, white nationalism, weakness, incompetence, immorality, corruption, laziness, and pettiness were not a "political side". If you want to call the Republican party a "side", then you need to disentangle these things first. Otherwise opposition to Republicans by any decent/educated person is easily explained.
- 75dvtwin 6y ago
  Eloquent. You are probably aware then, that conservatives think of the Democrats as the global Cartel, consisting of - bribe takers and money launders - protege of sexual predators - systemic racists And that claiming that this is a party, and they have a paritcular platform -- is like claiming that Mexican Mafia is a party with platform. So you can imagine how suprised a conservative is, to learn of how many people lack even mediocre critical thinking, that is meant as immunity against manipulative and conniving propaganda machine.
lanstin 6y ago
Removing safe harbor will increase this sort of thing, because Twitter would be exposed to more law suits for not taking down harmful speech. (And yes, harmful speech is a legal concept in the US). And the internet is not social media - the internet and decentralized digital technologies don’t need Twitter to link people together.
technotony 6y ago
It depends what happens in congress. Trump might win the whitehouse, but lose congress. congress makes the rules around social media and breaking up big tech.

mattnewton 6y ago

I think this is one of the damned if you do, damned if you don’t situations. Twitter and Facebook were largely blamed by traditional media for being a vector of misinformation that harmed the American public in 2016, and suffered a lost of trust then. When they try to combat that, whoever would have benefited from the material being censored will cry fowl, and it was a doomed venture from the start.

rightbyte 6y ago
Russia was blamed, not Twitter or Facebook. They were victims ...

throwmeaway_pls 6y ago

They’ve certainly changed my vote. Wow.

subpixel 6y ago
Oh please. Taking steps to fight disinformation is enough to drive you into the disinformation camp?
- jonboy95 6y ago
  Woosh
- throwawayAXH79 6y ago
  Your dismissive of OP’s reasoning. That tends to reinforce people’s position. My wife is a registered Democrat who’ll be voting for Trump in a swing state. As recently as six months ago she loathed Trump. Her stated reason is that she doesn’t feel like she can be herself, have her own opinions, among Democrats anymore.

zpeti 6y ago

arcatech 6y ago

You're talking about backing one side or the other, but are concepts like truth or fact a factor in this argument at all?

caseysoftware 6y ago

> And the knock-off effects of this will be even more damning. Even if Trump loses, many other countries will take a big, hard look at the possibility of regime change and political interference being done by a bunch of Western Activists. Especially in Asia and Africa, where the memories of Western Imperialism have not yet faded and the wounds are still raw. Political interference isn't new or particularly hard. We decades of playbooks dedicated to that courtesy of the CIA, KBG/FSB, etc. In more modern times, we have the Obama State Department (led by Secretary Clinton) working with Twitter to support the protests and overall idea of regime change: https://www.mic.com/articles/10642/twitter-revolution-how-the-arab-spring-was-helped-by-social-media https://www.mic.com/articles/10642/twitter-revolution-how-th... The goals and tactics aren't different, just the target.

vehemenz 6y ago

Pre- political cults, white nationalism, weakness, incompetence, immorality, corruption, laziness, and pettiness were not a "political side". If you want to call the Republican party a "side", then you need to disentangle these things first. Otherwise opposition to Republicans by any decent/educated person is easily explained.

75dvtwin 6y ago
Eloquent. You are probably aware then, that conservatives think of the Democrats as the global Cartel, consisting of - bribe takers and money launders - protege of sexual predators - systemic racists And that claiming that this is a party, and they have a paritcular platform -- is like claiming that Mexican Mafia is a party with platform. So you can imagine how suprised a conservative is, to learn of how many people lack even mediocre critical thinking, that is meant as immunity against manipulative and conniving propaganda machine.

lanstin 6y ago

Removing safe harbor will increase this sort of thing, because Twitter would be exposed to more law suits for not taking down harmful speech. (And yes, harmful speech is a legal concept in the US). And the internet is not social media - the internet and decentralized digital technologies don’t need Twitter to link people together.

technotony 6y ago

It depends what happens in congress. Trump might win the whitehouse, but lose congress. congress makes the rules around social media and breaking up big tech.