Naked Thoughts: How an Election has Changed Social Media as we Know it
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Image via Twitter
What do you get when you have a global pandemic, rising social and political tensions, increased social media usage, and an important election in the US?
It’s no secret that social media platforms like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook have been responsible for the spread of misinformation in the past. But, when it’s come to 2020’s pressing public issues, like COVID-19 and the impending US election, the social media giants have been putting measures in place to try and control the chaos by monitoring, restricting and flagging what they deem as controversial or misleading content by political parties, candidates, media pundits, celebrities and influential personalities. They’ve also been doing their part to encourage their users to take positive action, like reading an article before they retweet it and registering to vote. What was once a place of unfiltered conversation, debate and Doge memes has changed dramatically in 2020, and some feel as though these platforms are playing the role of moral moderator, infringing on individual freedom of speech and essentially censoring opinions.
So, how did we get here?
Early Days
Back in March – a lifetime ago – Twitter did something that was unprecedented- it removed two of Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro’s tweets where he downplayed the severity of COVID-19.
Around that time, Twitter announced a new company policy in which “…anyone caught denying established facts about the disease, propagating false or misleading information, denying scientifically established facts, or posting alleged cures for Covid-19 will have their tweets deleted.”
So, yes; if you tweeted about curing COVID-19 by injecting, let’s say, bleach, your tweet will meet an early grave (similar to what could happen if you inject bleach).
Image via WHO
Deleting tweets wasn’t the only action Twitter was taking to manage the distribution of misinformation. The platform started attaching labels of caution under any tweet “containing disputed or misleading information about COVID-19”. These labels typically read “Get the facts about…” and link out to various verified resources related to the subject. So, in case you thought that 5G internet was responsible for COVID-19, you can check out the World Health Organization’s (hilarious) myth-busting page.
Unfiltered to Fact-Checked
Leading up to this election, fact-checking and monitoring has become visible on nearly every social media platform. Let’s start with Facebook.
After the 2016 election, Facebook got into some deep trouble for their involvement in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. According to a whistleblower, the Russian media company harvested millions of American Facebook profiles in order to build a system that could profile US voters and target their “inner demons” with personalized, Republican leaning, political ads.
Since the scandal, Facebook has understandably come under intense pressure to ensure the safety and privacy of its users, especially when it comes to political advertising.
Now, Facebook has 35,000 employees, artificial intelligence, and 70 media companies – all responsible for monitoring political and social content.
According to Nick Clegg, Facebook’s VP of Global Affairs and Communications, the company has also placed tight restrictions on paid political advertising, which has led to the rejection of 2.2 million ads near election time, the withdrawal of 120,000 posts that “obstruct voting”, and the addition of banners attached to 150 million posts.
But the question remains: who should decide what should and should not be “censored”?
In a study conducted by Gallup and The Knight Foundation in late 2019, we learned that roughly 65% of all Americans believe that people should be able to express their views openly on social media. But, when asked about how social media companies should handle certain issues, 81% of participants said that they should hide misleading political information, and 85% say that they should hide misleading content relating to health. This would lead to you believe that social media users want the platforms to play an active role in some capacity.
Image via SocialMediaToday
Facebook is currently in the process of setting up a “Content Oversight Board” to monitor controversial content; a group made up of global advisors and consultants who are “experienced at deliberating thoughtfully and collegially, skilled at making and explaining decisions based on a set of policies or principles, and familiar with digital content and governance.” Given Facebook’s reluctance in the past to take a stand against censorship on the platform, it will be interesting to see how this Content Oversight Board will work and what types of decisions they’ll make.
Helping America Vote
Image via Facebook
While the topic of censorship and content moderating on social media is complicated and muddled, one thing is for certain: social media platforms are pulling out all the stops to get more Americans to the polls this year. And it’s working.
For one, Facebook launched the largest voting information campaign in U.S. history. In a post, Mark Zuckerberg shared that they’ve now helped 4.4 million Americans register to vote.
Plus, when you log onto Twitter in the States, you’ll be greeted by a banner created by Twitter that links to a page with voting information by state, in addition to a button that allows anyone to tweet about the importance of voting (and doing it early).
Lastly, in their fight to “protect against misinformation”, TikTok launched an in-app feature that provides TikTokers access to authoritative information on the election. It also allows users to register to vote based on their state.
Future Forward
Social media’s role in politics is a topic that’s been heavily debated as of late. Despite having the power to do a lot of good by connecting people, building communities and sharing information, as we see with voting registration initiatives, many still believe that these tech corporations have no right to involve themselves in politics. They argue that social media has moved too far away from what they once were: platforms for honest, open, free communication. But how can communication platforms sit back when their users turn a place for conversation into a tool to spread hate, faux-science and conspiracy theories (we’re lookin’ at you, Q.)?!
Platforms like Facebook and TikTok are continuing to grow and become increasingly more influential. As of October 21, Gen-Z - also known as our future and the audience most heavily influenced by social media - had already surpassed their 2016 voting numbers. While we can’t predict the future, it’s safe to say that social media will play an equally massive role in all major world events, from elections to earthquakes and everything in between.