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To me the biggest issue that was raised by the Trump bans is that we shouldn't be relying on these channels for communication with our governments and elected r

To me the biggest issue that was raised by the Trump bans is that we shouldn't be relying on these channels for communication with our governments and elected representatives. Boris Johnson had a brief flirtation with Facebook Q&A sessions. Our governments should broadcast any messaging in the widest possible sense. Official government websites, live feeds to anyone who cares for it etc.

krapp 6y ago
The only reason this was ever an issue is that Donald Trump chose to use his personal Twitter account as his primary means of communication, to the point that it had to be recognized as a de facto official channel. And that's mostly because he believed the press and every other avenue was controlled by leftists. This is far more a "Donald Trump is a paranoiac" problem than a social media problem per se. Nothing wrong with a politican doing an AMA on Reddit or a Facebook Q&A or having a Twitter account, which they all do at this point. Politicians using social media as a convenient way to communicate with people directly can be a net benefit for society, although probably more so the more local government becomes. But using social media exclusive of other, official channels is obviously a problem.
caseysoftware 6y ago
Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, et al are the broadest method to broadcast. They're not limited by geography, time of day, cable provider, and due to recording capabilities, the messages kept online easily without many restrictions. And potentially most importantly, they're easy for everyone to find. In 2018, a number of people sued Trump for him blocking them on Twitter. It was viewed as unconstitutional to be blocked from reading and engaging with his messages. That went to the Courts and they agreed, his Twitter account was declared a "public forum" and he had to unblock them. That's the real mismatch here.
detaro 6y ago
That has been an issue for a long time: ever since individual citizens became unable to use these platforms, or were expected to make compromises on privacy rights etc to do so.
Normille 6y ago
>To me the biggest issue that was raised by the Trump bans is that we shouldn't be relying on these channels for communication with our governments and elected representatives What I find most alarming about this, as a European is that; because these USA based companies so totally dominate the social media landscape, not only are they defining what opinions it's acceptable for US citizens to express [which is invidious enough] but they are effectively imposing these standards on the rest of the world too. When you couple this with the fact that the USA pretty much decides political policy for most of the western world too, I really fear that [more than ever before] we're living in a world where US 'correct think' and US 'correct act' are the only acceptable forms of behaviour, outside of Chinese totalitarianism and Russian nepotism. Not only that, but we seem to be so in thrall of the US that we even have to adopt your social problems as our own. A classic example of this is the recent George Floyd protests in the US: All of a sudden, all over Europe, virtue signalling folks were going on BLM marches vandalising statues etc. Now, we may have had our problems in the past but, here in most of Europe, the kind of nasty emdemic racism that seems all too prevalent in the US barely exists any more. It's largely been consigned to that handy receptacle 'the dustbin of history'. But, here we were, all of a sudden stirring up division and conflict in our own societies because "If the USA is nasty and racist then we must be nasty and racist too!" And, of course, the media were falling over themselves to unearth black celebrities to recount the traumatic tale of how, sometime between earning their fifth and tenth million, someone once looked at them in a funny way in a supermarket. I just can't understand why the almost total domination by the US of European cultural and political life is a complete non-issue here. Why are Silicon Valley hipsters deciding on the acceptable parameters of discourse in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome... etc?
- Mauricebranagh 6y ago
  Sorry that's totally wrong mainland Europe in particular is a bit tone deaf in this area even compared to the UK. Its very telling that refugees risk death trying to cross the channel to the UK rather than settle in mainland Europe.
- VBprogrammer 6y ago
  > "If the USA is nasty and racist then we must be nasty and racist too!" I suppose we also get a free pass on sexual assaults and discrimination since #metoo is obviously just an American social problem? While I agree that our problems are subtlety different, it's mostly people of Asian ethnicities who get a shit deal in the UK, to pretend they don't exist is just sticking your head in the sand. Overt racists are alive and kicking in the UK at least. I have the misfortune of being related to some of them.

krapp 6y ago

The only reason this was ever an issue is that Donald Trump chose to use his personal Twitter account as his primary means of communication, to the point that it had to be recognized as a de facto official channel. And that's mostly because he believed the press and every other avenue was controlled by leftists. This is far more a "Donald Trump is a paranoiac" problem than a social media problem per se. Nothing wrong with a politican doing an AMA on Reddit or a Facebook Q&A or having a Twitter account, which they all do at this point. Politicians using social media as a convenient way to communicate with people directly can be a net benefit for society, although probably more so the more local government becomes. But using social media exclusive of other, official channels is obviously a problem.

caseysoftware 6y ago

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, et al are the broadest method to broadcast. They're not limited by geography, time of day, cable provider, and due to recording capabilities, the messages kept online easily without many restrictions. And potentially most importantly, they're easy for everyone to find. In 2018, a number of people sued Trump for him blocking them on Twitter. It was viewed as unconstitutional to be blocked from reading and engaging with his messages. That went to the Courts and they agreed, his Twitter account was declared a "public forum" and he had to unblock them. That's the real mismatch here.

detaro 6y ago

That has been an issue for a long time: ever since individual citizens became unable to use these platforms, or were expected to make compromises on privacy rights etc to do so.

Normille 6y ago

>To me the biggest issue that was raised by the Trump bans is that we shouldn't be relying on these channels for communication with our governments and elected representatives What I find most alarming about this, as a European is that; because these USA based companies so totally dominate the social media landscape, not only are they defining what opinions it's acceptable for US citizens to express [which is invidious enough] but they are effectively imposing these standards on the rest of the world too. When you couple this with the fact that the USA pretty much decides political policy for most of the western world too, I really fear that [more than ever before] we're living in a world where US 'correct think' and US 'correct act' are the only acceptable forms of behaviour, outside of Chinese totalitarianism and Russian nepotism. Not only that, but we seem to be so in thrall of the US that we even have to adopt your social problems as our own. A classic example of this is the recent George Floyd protests in the US: All of a sudden, all over Europe, virtue signalling folks were going on BLM marches vandalising statues etc. Now, we may have had our problems in the past but, here in most of Europe, the kind of nasty emdemic racism that seems all too prevalent in the US barely exists any more. It's largely been consigned to that handy receptacle 'the dustbin of history'. But, here we were, all of a sudden stirring up division and conflict in our own societies because "If the USA is nasty and racist then we must be nasty and racist too!" And, of course, the media were falling over themselves to unearth black celebrities to recount the traumatic tale of how, sometime between earning their fifth and tenth million, someone once looked at them in a funny way in a supermarket. I just can't understand why the almost total domination by the US of European cultural and political life is a complete non-issue here. Why are Silicon Valley hipsters deciding on the acceptable parameters of discourse in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome... etc?

Mauricebranagh 6y ago
Sorry that's totally wrong mainland Europe in particular is a bit tone deaf in this area even compared to the UK. Its very telling that refugees risk death trying to cross the channel to the UK rather than settle in mainland Europe.
VBprogrammer 6y ago
> "If the USA is nasty and racist then we must be nasty and racist too!" I suppose we also get a free pass on sexual assaults and discrimination since #metoo is obviously just an American social problem? While I agree that our problems are subtlety different, it's mostly people of Asian ethnicities who get a shit deal in the UK, to pretend they don't exist is just sticking your head in the sand. Overt racists are alive and kicking in the UK at least. I have the misfortune of being related to some of them.