Social media can be seen as the savior of free speech in places where governments heavily restrict internet access and where residents break the law to circumvent any censorship their government pushes. In the 'west' we have benefited greatly from the ease of transfer of information but it seems now that many social media companies like Twitter and Facebook have their own agenda when they enforce their terms of service. Of course, individual companies are free and should be free to maintain their website as they please and they have every right to restrict any of us from accessing and posting on their site, however, I would like to bring into question the practices that some of these companies commit to.
Social Media Targeting Conservatives
Over the past few years we've had conservative groups complaining that they have been censored on social media; I too have been suspended before (some were justified suspensions and others have me scratching my head) and I'm nothing compared to a typical conservative American. Some on the left have made complaints as well but overwhelmingly it seems that Republicans or right-wing social media influencers have been targeted by Facebook and Twitter. Both of these companies maintain that they are just trying to control the amount of hate speech on the platform but they eagerly are willing to silence conservative voices or voices who don't follow the post-modern 'progressive' idealism. They push for policies that directly confront traditional ideals such as two-genderism and national identity where people can be accused of being bigots or racists just for simply having an opposing opinion. It's a dangerous slippery slope and it has caused an exodus of free-thinking individuals, and right-wingers to flee traditional media sites.The accusations by the left of Trump-Russian collusion has flooded the mainstream political field when it was a hot topic but still, to this day the treatment and censorship of conservative voices on these sites have yet to be condemned by the left. Some social media influencers like Timcast and Joe Rogan have confronted Twitter officials (Vijaya Gadde and Jack Dorsey) on this very issue, but many within the community were not satisfied with the executive's disconnected comments about how they manage their site. Social media has served a purpose in the election cycle, but this brings into question the possible motives individual corporations have when sharing valuable information. Facebook and Twitter are acting and pretending as if they are the arbiters of truth and that they should be trusted by the community at large, but so far they have defended social media accounts who consistently get things wrong or who actively break their own TOS, like Carlos Maza (who has called for political violence against conservatives). Social media is the savior for most people but now it seems that social media is going to destroy the very thing we cherish the most, our right to free speech.
Today keywords and phrases are triggers for bots created by these corporations who seem to flag users with impunity. Not only this but overzealous social media users also feel as if it is their duty to report content that they are personally offended by which continues creating a headache for major corporations. At the end of the day, we cannot rely solely on one social media website to share information and to communicate with our friends given how sensitive this digital world has gotten. It's better for us to diversify as journalists, and if we are regular users, its better to find and use social media sites that defend free speech, not suppress it.
Look For Alternatives
If people are truly concerned about being suppressed by social media actors then they should disconnect from the web, and if that's out of the question then the next best thing is to find alternative sites. Centralized alternatives are becoming more popular, sites like MeWe are examples of this, but they are still centralized businesses who likely will eventually have their own agendas or be subjected to ridiculous censorship rules. The only real alternative for people who want to protect their free speech is to depend on blockchain technology and promote that technology to their friends in order for them to fully adopt them and incorporate it into their lives.
