Why were tech platforms reluctant to moderate Trump’s posts, even as he repeatedly violated hate speech regulations?

The same reason why #Grenfell happened, why most jobs are insecure & low paid, why $26 trillion is held offshore, & why democracy is on the ropes: #deregulation. Image
Libertarian billionaires push to deregulate *everything* to help consolidate their power & wealth: they fund deregulatory political parties & try to saturate online, print & broadcast media with voices sympathetic to reducing Governments' ability to regulate their activities. Image
In particular, Libertarian-billionaire-funded, deregulation-supporting populist nationalist politicians' leverage of social media to spread bigoted conspiracy theories & #propaganda has gone largely unchecked amid a vacuum of laws regulating government speech on social media. ImageImageImageImage
"In the absence of meaningful regulation, tech companies have had little incentive to regulate their massively profitable platforms, curb the spread of falsehoods that produce engagement & moderate the president." They also benefit from low-tax policies.

theguardian.com/us-news/2021/j…
“The violence that we witnessed today in our nation’s capital is a direct response to the #misinformation, conspiracy theories & hate speech that have been allowed to spread on social media platforms” - Jim Steyer, of @CommonSense Media.

“Social media platforms must be held accountable for their complicity in the destruction of our #democracy."

We need to "consider those in power as a potential source” and ensure "no future president can ever #propagandize the American people in this way again.” ImageImage
Free speech is precious, but like democracy, fragile.

Divisive thugs who want to deregulate everything, pretend white people are under attack, demonise minorities, & use deliberately inflammatory rhetoric for political gain, are the enemies - not the defenders - of free speech. Image

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More from @docrussjackson

10 Jan
The KLF - #America: What Time Is Love?

The KLF - What Time Is Love?

The KLF - 3AM Eternal

Read 7 tweets
9 Jan
'Free Speech Youth Advisory Board were censured if they disagreed with the group’s right-of-centre orthodoxy.'

Who could possibly have guessed that the hard-right eugenics enthusiast & lockdown-sceptic's project was just a vehicle for right-wing dogma?

theguardian.com/p/g2q9f/stw
President of Bristol Free Speech Society: “We have been used by Toby Young to legitimise this project. Organisations like the Free Speech Union are just perpetuating a culture war.”

Shocked I tell you.

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Oxford University student & founder of the Oxford Society for Free Discourse: “They said very clearly this is a grassroots movement. They purposely hushed the Free Speech Union’s involvement down.”

Toby Young now describes facemasks as "face nappies".

newstatesman.com/politics/uk/20…
Read 4 tweets
9 Jan
The facts is, in Britain and America, you can't get elected without Murdoch's support.

But do tell us again how Extinction Rebellion delaying our "free press" for a few hours was "an attack on democracy".
Murdoch undoubtedly helped put Trump in power - as he has successive Tory Govts - not least with the dangerously irresponsible divisive cranks at @FoxNews, which has helped Make America Grim Again.

He's now doing the exact same shit here with @talkRADIO.

Rupert Murdoch has for too long had a disproportionate, antidemocratic, & toxic influence over voters in the UK, USA & Australia. We need a national conversation.

@MrKRudd is ahead of the curve in doing something about Murdoch’s abuse of political power.

Read 4 tweets
8 Jan
Free speech is precious, & like democracy, fragile.

Divisive thugs, who spread conspiracy theories, demonise minorities, pretend white people are under attack, & use deliberately inflammatory rhetoric for personal & political gain, are the enemies, not defenders, of free speech. Image
Been called a "fascist" already!🤪

Constantly, irresponsibly & deliberately using dangerously misleading, untrue, inflammatory, offensive & divisive rhetoric, will produce a backlash (as we're now seeing on social media platforms) which will genuinely put free speech in danger.
Curious how all the "morally superior snowflake victims deploying their outrage culture" (am I doing it right?) appear to be accusing me of 'opposing the free speech of people I disagree with', when I've done no such thing: I'm using my free speech to comment on free speech.👍
Read 6 tweets
7 Jan
So #Parler, the app crawling with Trump supporting white-supremacists & neo-Nazis, was part-funded by the daughter of US Libertarian billionaire Robert Mercer, principal investor in Cambridge Analytica, who donated data analytics services to Nigel Farage.

businessinsider.com/rebekah-mercer…
Read 4 tweets
6 Jan
The 'sunk cost fallacy' means that once we’ve committed to a course of action, we find it very difficult to deviate from it, especially if we've invested considerable resources into our actions.

Even if things are no longer working out as planned, we struggle to change.
Think about Brexit crashing the economy, the rise of the Far Right, increasing inequality, catastrophic man-made climate change, & of course, all those investing time in irresponsibly arguing that it was migrants who caused our problems, or #COVID19 isn't really that dangerous.
Or take Rishi Sunak’s notorious “eat out to help out” scheme in the summer, designed to reinvigorate the hospitality sector. It cost us £849 million & came to represent a celebration for beating the virus.

Yet “eat out to help out” may have actually increased infection rates.
Read 4 tweets

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