Thread by @ClimateAudit

unanticipated consequences: de-platforming of Trump by US social media is forcing other countries, especially other big countries, to assess penetration of their communications systems by US social media.

https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1347902693537239040

2/ Why should India, with all of its computer skills, out-source social media to US corporations, especially ones that are politically partisan?

3/ there's an important economic incentive for other nations to seize this issue while it's hot. Big social media are so profitable because they've captured local and national advertising markets at expense of local newspapers and magazines, now out of business or state supported

4/ most policy focus on US social media has been section 230, but a much bigger potential problem for Twitter and Facebook would be concerted effort by other nations to reclaim jurisdiction over national social media. As a Canadian, I would support that on economic grounds.

5/ a common objection by US citizens: how is it that Donald Trump is de-platformed by Twitter but not the leader of Iran? A fair question in its own right. But if you're an Iranian, the question is different: why should US social media have ability to de-platform Iranian leader.

6/ particularly for Facebook, which has huge market among people disseminating family and friends information as opposed to the more political aspect of Twitter.

7/ an immediate practical issue that ought to be of interest to national governments: should the Indian/Canadian/whatever gov't legislate an obligation on Twitter/FB that each user have right to retrieve his data in prescribed and transferrable format. Including DM threads

8/ to this foreign (Canadian) observer, the simultaneous de-platforming of an important national political leader by US social media looks a lot more like our idea of a coup than the unruly and disorganized protests. To an Indian or Iranian or Brazilian, it must seem even more so

9/ German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemns anti-democratic de-platforming of Trump. Germans, as we all know, have prior #ReichstagFire experience of malicious politicians using "domestic terrorism" hyperbole to curtail freedoms.

10/ even Elon Musk questions anti-democratic conduct of "West Coast high tech"

11/ other unintended consequences of coordination (spoken or unspoken) by social media corporations in deplatforming Trump and Parler:
A) what risks do corporations run if they outsource data to "cloud"?
B) legitimacy of Amazon's CIA contract

https://twitter.com/INVESTMENTSHULK/status/1348651997365460992

12/ Ron Paul de-platformed by Facebook as Big Tech coup continues.

13/ Navalny condemns de-platforming of Trump by US oligarchs controlling social media