> Begin forwarded message: > > > Platforms Must Pay for Their Role in the Insurrection > Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have spent years fomenting and enabling > yesterday’s violence at the Capitol. Policymakers need to do something about > it. > > ROGER MCNAMEE > > 01.07.2021 05:16 PM > > https://www.wired.com/story/opinion-platforms-must-pay-for-their-role-in-the-insurrection/ > > <https://www.wired.com/story/opinion-platforms-must-pay-for-their-role-in-the-insurrection/> > > PRESIDENT TRUMP AND his enablers in government and right-wing media will > shoulder the blame for Wednesday’s insurrection at the US Capitol, but > internet platforms—Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter, in > particular—have played a fomenting and facilitating role that no one should > overlook. > > In their relentless pursuit of engagement and profits, these platforms > created algorithms that amplify hate speech, disinformation, and conspiracy > theories. This harmful content is particularly engaging and serves as the > lubricant for businesses as profitable as they are influential. These > platforms also enforce their terms of service in ways that favor extreme > speech and behavior, predominantly right-wing extremism. > > Since 2015, when Trump announced his presidential campaign, the relationship > between internet platforms and the political right has been increasingly > symbiotic. The business choices of internet platforms have enabled an > explosion not only of white supremacy but also of Covid denial and antivax > extremism, which have variously undermined the nation’s pandemic response, > nearly sabotaged the presidential election, and played a foundational role in > the violence at the Capitol. A huge industry has evolved on the platform > giants to raise money from and sell products to people in the thrall of > extreme ideologies. > > The platforms hide behind the First Amendment to justify their policies, > claiming that they do not want to be arbiters of truth. There are two flaws > in this argument. First, no thoughtful critic wants any platform to act as a > censor. Second, the algorithmic amplification of extreme content is a > business choice made in pursuit of profit; eliminating it would reduce the > harm from hate speech, disinformation, and conspiracy theories without any > limitation on free speech. Renee DiResta of the Stanford Internet Observatory > made this point in a WIRED essay titled “Free Speech Is Not the Same As Free > Reach > <https://www.wired.com/story/free-speech-is-not-the-same-as-free-reach/>.” > > Until this insurrection, many policymakers and pundits have dismissed the > rising tide of online extremism, believing it to be safely contained and > therefore harmless. Their lack of concern allowed extremism’s audience and > intensity to multiply. > > Because internet platforms play a dominant role in our national conversation, > extremism cultivated online seeped into the real world. We saw evidence > earlier this year when white supremacists occupied the Michigan state capitol > and then rioted in Minneapolis, Louisville, Portland, and Kenosha after the > murder of George Floyd. Internet platforms, Facebook in particular, were > central to organizing these violent acts, as well as in Washington, DC, > yesterday. Journalists have uncovered police members in Facebook Groups > devoted to a variety of right-wing extremist ideas, which may explain why > police departments in some cities have not taken the threat of right-wing > extremism seriously. Press and online videos have depicted police officers > standing by as insurrectionists broke the law, or even taking selfies with > them <https://twitter.com/bubbaprog/status/1346920198461419520>. > > The violence on January 6 followed a rally where the president incited the > crowd to march to Capitol Hill and “show strength.” The rally was organized > and livestreamed on every major internet platform, which also amplified > photos and videos posted during the day. Twitter and Facebook both allowed > Trump to post an inflammatory video about the mob violence and only took it > down after a tsunami of negative feedback. Twitter suspended Trump’s account > for 12 hours and Facebook did so indefinitely—likely due to pressure from > employees and policymakers—but irreversible damage had been done. > > The scale of internet platforms is such that their mistakes can undermine > democracy, public health, and public safety even in countries as large as the > United States. Facebook’s own research revealed that 64 percent > <https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-knows-it-encourages-division-top-executives-nixed-solutions-11590507499> > of the time a person joins an extremist Facebook Group, they do so because > the platform recommended it. Facebook has also acknowledged > <https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-09-30/facebook-qanon-conspiracy-social-media-election> > that pages and groups associated with QAnon extremism had at least 3 million > members, meaning Facebook helped radicalize 2 million people. Over the past > six months, QAnon subsumed MAGA and the antivax movement, with a major assist > from the platforms and policies of Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. > The recording of President Trump's recent conversation with Georgia's > secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, confirmed that Trump has joined his > followers in embracing QAnon and its conspiracy theories. > > Congress and law enforcement must decide what to do about the unprecedented > insurrection in Washington. President Trump and elements of the right-wing > media must pay. So, too, must internet platforms. They have prioritized their > own profits and prerogatives over democracy and the public health and safety > of the people who use their products. It is no exaggeration to say that > internet platforms, as well as new technologies like artificial intelligence > and smart devices, are unsafe. They are very often created by people who have > no incentive to anticipate, much less prevent, harms. As things stand, the > incentives have encouraged the development of a predatory ecosystem, with > platforms, users, and politicians alike in on the grift. > > Technology products do not need to be dangerous. The tech industry used to > empower the people who used its products. It can do so again. The Biden > administration has an opportunity to change incentives. It can put the tech > industry back on a productive course, as an engine of growth and empowerment. > This will require government intervention in three areas: safety, privacy, > and competition. It is not enough to amend or repeal Section 230 of the > Communications Decency Act; engineers need to be held accountable for harms. > It is not enough for Apple to implement opt-in privacy for iPhone users; we > need comprehensive privacy policies for all. It is not enough to break up > tech giants; the government needs to restore competitive balance. > > Policymakers must take action. The harms of internet platforms are no longer > contained or abstract, they are destabilizing our society and our government. > The Biden administration will not be able to stop the pandemic and revive the > economy without limiting disinformation and conspiracy theories spread by > internet platforms. The insurrection in Washington should provide both motive > and opportunity to act. > >
_______________________________________________ Infowarrior mailing list [email protected] https://attrition.org/mailman/listinfo/infowarrior
