Social media was once a place where you could speak your truth, no matter what that truth was. It didn’t matter if what you believed was unpopular or offensive, or if it blew a hole in some formerly-accepted narrative. Social media was very much a weaponized version of the First Amendment, and it was glorious.
Now, as these platforms are hijacked by the same mega-corporations who corrupted the mainstream media decades ago, they’ve become nothing more than another sanitary and safe depository of regurgitated, accepted knowledge.
In bowling terms: They’ve put bumpers on the lanes for the sake of making the world a more one-dimensional place.
In 2020, as an incredibly heated American election looms, Twitter is taking yet another step away from freedom – and much of the world is seeing right through it.
Twitter added a link to “get the facts” about mail-in ballots after President Trump tweeted out widely-held concerns about the potential for voter fraud. The Twitter-curated “moment” is filled with mainstream media articles from CNN, Washington Post, and other outlets calling Trump a liar.
“There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent,” said President Trump on Twitter. “Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged & even illegally printed out & fraudulently signed.”
“The Governor of California is sending Ballots to millions of people, anyone living in the state, no matter who they are or how they got there, will get one,” continued Trump. “That will be followed up with professionals telling all of these people, many of whom have never even thought of voting before, how, and for whom, to vote. This will be a Rigged Election. No way!”
Here’s where it gets downright partisan:
People trying to view Trump’s tweets on Twitter will see a link added by the site beneath them saying “get the facts about mail-in ballots.” Clicking on the link takes Twitter users to a Twitter “moment” (a collection of tweets and links) curated by the company itself and filled with mainstream media articles from CNN, Washington Post, and other outlets calling President Trump a liar. This is reportedly the first time the social media platform has branded Trump’s tweets with a link to a fact check of this type.
The top article is a piece from CNN Opinion, calling the President’s claim “unsubstantiated” and claiming that mail-in ballots “very rarely lead to voter fraud.”
One can only imagine the potential for abuse in this sort of system.
