Thread by @markscott82

I find this point from @FrancesHaugen telling in terms how US social media companies (and, frankly) US-based reporters and others view #misinformation. It’s as if they haven’t looked beyond their noses to the wider world & lack of support for tackling this problem elsewhere.

I won’t pretend to understand the intricacies of Myanmar or the Philippines. But again and again, #misinformation across Europe has gone unchecked. politico.eu/article/qanon-…, politico.eu/article/us-nat…, politico.eu/article/corona…

I’m not the best at languages, but across French, Spanish, Italian and German, social media companies have routinely failed to offer the same protections as offered to (US) English users. My @crowdtangle is just full of this stuff. All unchecked

And it’s not just @Facebook. @YouTube and @Twitter are equally bad, if not worse. It’s just that FB is the biggest, and therefore the most important. FB also adds the best (but flawed) data access. The other platforms are even more back boxes

What I find ironic is that Europe is by far the most aggressive in its content moderation rules (within democratic countries). And yet because social media companies think they as American, they spend almost all of their time focused on the US

Don’t get me wrong. There’s a lot of BS in the US. But as someone who looks at #misinformation on both sides of the Atlantic, the companies’ responses are just night and day. Just look at how often CEOs have testified to Congress — while US lawmakers continue to do nothing

Reminder: these social media giants aren’t American companies. Sure, they may be listed there. But 80% of their users are overseas. Their obligations don’t stop at the border. If anything, they have greater responsibility in places without strong media & education systems

If they can’t offer protections in, say, Germany. How’s that going to work in countries across the Global South?

Rant over. Thoughts appreciated.

Should add: it’s not like things are going well in the US. politico.com/news/2020/03/0…, politico.com/states/florida…, politico.com/news/2020/10/2…