3 ms·
The following can both be true, and IMO both are true: 1. The vast majority of right-wing content goes uncensored. 2. A few really choice targets for censorsh
by pjscott 3y ago
The following can both be true, and IMO both are true:
1. The vast majority of right-wing content goes uncensored.
2. A few really choice targets for censorship get categorized as "misinformation", "disinformation", or "malinformation" and are subject to widespread campaigns of suppression.
(... And there may be systematic algorithmic down-weighting of some right-wing ideas or accounts, but I'm not confident enough in the evidence here to call it a serious problem, which is why there's no #3 on that list.)
Probably the most non-partisan example I can think of would be the Christchurch shooter's manifesto, a document which approximately everyone disagrees with. For a while after the massacre, it seemed like every social media platform was aggressively trying to make sure nobody could read the thing. You could find a copy with some effort, but only by skulking around in the shadier parts of the web. You could say that they're private companies and can do what they want -- but if they hadn't censored in lockstep, it's likely that some government displeasure would come down on the uncooperative companies later.
The result of this is a censorship regime that's hard to see because it only goes after the high-value targets.
- cudgy 3y ago“but if they hadn't censored in lockstep, it's likely that some government displeasure would come down on the uncooperative companies later” This is the root of the problem, right? In the US, the government is specifically excluded from doing this either directly or indirectly, except in specific and rare circumstances that were not in play for most of the censorship that has occurred like covid origins, speech deemed racist, criticism of vaccines, speech deemed hateful, and speech deemed incorrect for example.