Weekly Roundup #4
8 July 2021
Welcome to our latest weekly roundup! Here are the latest updates / news about social media from the Podium team.
The Trials of GETTR
Casey Newton, of Platformer, writes for The Verge about why Conservative social networks keep failing, after the recent launch of GETTR, a Twitter-style app that promised free speech. The problem with GETTR, as with Parler, Gab and many others, is that “free speech” is now seen by other users as a code for racism and outright fascism — both of which were immediately found on GETTR. It got so extreme on Parler that it eventually led to the failed insurrection attempt in January this year. Another problem for those free speech platforms is that there is often speech that they do find unacceptable — depending on their specific bias — such as the interesting Sonic images that were shared on GETTR by users on the left, and immediately removed; or Mike Lindell’s platform Frank, that banned swearing and blasphemy.
As we’ve written previously on the issue of freedom of speech, anyone being able to say whatever they want can end up restricting the freedoms of others — particularly if that speech is hateful or violent — and moderation is therefore a necessity online. Many users, on both the right and left, do not want to be on platforms where anything goes. Conservatives can keep trying to build social networks for free speech, but ultimately, as Casey notes: “Most people will only spend so long in a virtual space in which they are surrounded by the worst of humanity.“
Is It Impossible to Quit Twitter?
There is a common genre of article written by people quitting or wanting to quit Twitter (or another big social media platform) and also spelling out how awful the platform is. Here’s another one in The Atlantic, by writer and journalist Caitlin Flanagan, who felt so addicted to Twitter, she gave her password to her son, and asked him to change it.
It is fascinating reading how people describe the platform. People talk about it hacking the brain circuitry, or being a parasite that makes them feel bad about themselves. It’s a “horror show”, a “hellsite” and toxic. There’s no nuance and people are constantly horrible to each other. It takes people’s attention, energy and their private thoughts. One author writes about how after quitting, she stopped having twitter-style thoughts. Another felt quitting “decluttered” their brain.
So why then, are people still on Twitter? Some feel they have to stay because friends are there. Some believe they need it for their professional careers. Some just cannot stop looking at “weird twitter subcultures”. Perhaps what we all need is a new platform…
Facebook and Moderation in Non-English Languages
Facebook has long been criticised for its moderation efforts being much poorer outside English-speaking countries. Avaaz raised the alarm on the amount of Covid-19 misinformation in Spanish and Italian; and journalists for Openly talked about how LGBTQ+ conversion therapy posts were less likely to be removed from the platform if they were in Arabic.
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Researchers Fiona Martin and Aim Sinpeng received funding from Facebook to study its content moderation policies (although Facebook did not give them access to removed hate speech), summarised in The Conversation. Their investigation focused on LGBTQI+ pages, and found that while Facebook is doing better at defining hate speech, it is still failing to recognise content in a non-English language, and in particular, a “minority language”. Martin and Sinpeng provided some recommendations for Facebook, such as consulting with groups that face discrimination. This is commendable, but we think a corporation this big should have done better by now. Facebook has been around for over a decade, and its lack of good quality moderation, and reliance on automated moderation, is having devastating impacts around the world.
Trump vs Big Tech
And now, in lighter news, continuing buffoonery from former president and failed insurrectionist Donald Trump, who announced yesterday that he plans to sue Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey and Sundar Pichai for conservative censorship. As Sara Fischer for Axios notes, there has been no evidence that Trump or other Republicans have faced bias on the platforms. In fact, as we found for our very first Weekly Roundup, Facebook in particular has allowed misinformation to proliferate, in order to avoid an alleged bias against conservative posters.
Many news reports, including the BBC and The Guardian, point to Trump’s history of starting lawsuits that commonly amount to nothing, mainly to gain attention from the media. Recode also suggests that this likely has more to do with Trump’s fundraising, given how quickly after the announcement supporters were contacted to donate. We will see how this one plays out.
Events in tech
9 July
- Our friends at the Conscious Advertising Network are holding “A Bitesize Introduction to The Conscious Advertising Network (CAN)” at 10:00 BST.
- The National Library Board in Singapore has organised a talk about social media movements, linked to its Read! Fest 2021, and inspired by the book How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division by Elif Shafak. “A Conversation about Social Media: Does it Unite or Divide Us?” is at 13:30 BST.
- “A New Model Internet” is being held at 17:30 BST, by Edinburgh Science Festival, to discuss state control of the internet with author James Griffiths and internet pioneer Ian Richie.
13 July
- The Aspen Institute is launching its report on information disorder. “Reducing Harms, Increasing Transparency, and Instilling Trust” at 16:00 BST.
- And at 18:30 BST, West Country Bylines is talking to author Kyle Taylor about personal data, and those who exploit it, in “Data and Democracy”.
