[I posted this first part on the 7th]
What happened this [LAST] week was sickening. And I know everyone is quick to blame social media. While social media may have facilitated means of communication, it didnt create humans being hateful. These problems are not new, they are just more obvious. As someone who grew up outside of DC, lived through 9/11, these messages being on the internet are not the cause. The lack of response from federal “protection” agencies, who had the info to stop this, is. That plane I saw on twitter on Tuesday night should have never taken off. And when it landed, they should have been greeted by authorities. These people should have had their messages flagged. I am not trying to erase the ugliness of what happened, but for these terrorists to be able to have the time to take photos. To feel safe enough to put their feet up and chill… the red carpet was rolled out for these criminals, and I am kind of over seeing these regal, glorified Insta- worth photos. I don’t want to see their faces or hear their names. They don’t deserve individual fame. I understand that humor is the way that some people cope, but in a time where we need to recognize how white supremacy and racism have caused so much harm, we also need to hold ourselves accountable. If the media cant call it what it is, then we need too…
[part 2]
I made this prior to the deletion of trump on twitter …. since you know this isn’t a new topic to me… I want to discuss the deletion of trumps twitter. And … I have spent DAYS discussing this with people more knowledgable than I (shoutout clubhouse- also very much responsible for the delay on this post)
So 1) Trump had a personal account. Which was a discussion four years ago. TBH this year when he started tweeting alot more from the TRUMP account I didn’t even notice it wasn’t the @POTUS account. TBH I did not know the difference, or even think about it – I just assumed he changed the name because… you know….
SO LETS do a quick refresher on the first amendment
Twitter can delete anyone at any time, because THEY are protected under the first amendment. While I do believe they could have had enough evidence to do this earlier on, they also added in many factors to control misinformation. If you know me you know that I hate capitalism, and the systemic problems of the nation are all rooted in that (and it was built on r@cism) – these are all larger convos and trying to keep this as light as possible but I am always willing to converse. We saw how trump reacted to Tik Tok. Twitter has been really important in spreading real news, information in real time, and showing the realities of users that the news did not show (especially during BLM protests). Had twitter deleted TRUMP earlier with his erratic social media executive orders and vendetta against “section 230,” the implication could have been significantly more harmful.
That being said – there is going to be legislation that comes from the events of the 6th that sets a new precedent for how we use the internet. Im going to keep this as light as I can and as relevant to this situation – bc the ones I was focused on prior to the pandemic
What I hear everyone mad about is censorship. On all sides. But im not sure people truly understand what that means.
And I am still struggling to understand why the conversation is centered around big tech?!
Our society is always looking for someone to blame. Who can they place the liability on. What if we just took accountability for ourselves to be intentional in not only the way that we share, but the way that we interact with people who have differing opinions.
The general narrative is the tech companies have to much power – but – I find it a much bigger problem that the tech companies acted faster than the government. SOCIAL MEDIA was never supposed to be a news source. But all of our news is hidden behind a paywall, and ESP in a pandemic, most people are not spending money on news.
I hears this great quote in a clubhouse chat last night that really stuck with me
Justice Louis D. Brandeis established it in his classic concurring opinion in Whitney v. California (1927), when he wrote: “If there be time to expose through discussion, the falsehoods and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence.”
I don’t think more moderation is the move. Hate speech is impossible to find and I just cant live in a social media world with avocado toast kittens and Karens. THE BIAS WITH MODERATION ALREADY SUCKS. THE SAME NIGHT TRUMP WAS BANNED FOR ENCITING VIOLENCE (WHICH WAS ACTION #HANGPENCE WAS TRENDING)
ONLYFANS AND GRINDR WERE TRENDING WITH POLITICS. ITS NOT FAIR. AND IT NEEDS TO BE BETTER @ HEY SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS IF YOU WANT ADVICE FROM SOMEONE WHO IS ON YOUR SIDE HOLLA!!!!
“Your life shouldn’t be on social media ” – yes I hear you and I wish I was not so reliant on social media.
But we have been in a pandemic for 10 months now? My values and views on the world have changed completely. My birthday is March 10th. Of the small crew I had a bday dinner with, half no longer live in LA. The other half, have their safe bubbles and im not a part of it. Ive been alone, dealing with trauma, for 9 months. Seeing someone for an hour after all of this isnt sufficient. I am terrified of the virus. I am hurt that the people I love don’t have space for me, but I know its been a hard year for everyone.. and honestly.. I was losing hope. I would go days on end without hearing from people unless they need me… I digress… but we need to give credit where credit is due. there are many many benefits of social media..
(Im emotional right now whatever).
Tik Tok and clubhouse have given me hope. Being newer apps, their algorithms connect you to new ideas, new people. I know its no replacement for IRL connections, but its helped me be exposed to ways I can work on the things I care about, have conversations on a deep level, and honestly not have to put effort into reaching out. (Trust me, it gets old, and then Is just another slap in the face of rejection.” I bring this up bc I know I am not the only one that feels this way. But – its essential to be able to find new communities and for those of us stuck inside- social media is the only way.
So back to the 6th:
- T3rrorism is illegal in every state – the first amendment does not protect you from making threats or planning acts of violence. All of this was planned in plain site. I cant speak to how this was moderated or reported by the platforms. But I know plenty of tik tokens who warned about this, and reported it to the FBI – so who’s holding the FBI accountable to do their job (and other departments).
- I get why parlor was deleted – as they had many warnings and once again – the servers will be liable with actions like this – it is their first amendment right to say goodbye
- That being said – I dont get why someone in defense departments didnt just make an account to Moniter (and I know this one Is once again “abnormal” bc of all the corruption but there are WAY MORE PPL IN THE GOVT WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT US. WHISTLEBLOW. REMEMBER WHAT YOU ARE HERE FOR.
- We live in a social media age. There will always be another platform. We all know the algorithms are biased against marginalized communities who dont cause harm. Just like the FTC regulated ads, there are government sanctioned restrictions for every industry- and I think we need to create standards – not push for more moderation.
I am exhausted. The past week I have been in so many conversations regarding all this- I deff want to expand on all of this and would love to discuss – my terminology is not 100 here – and I will update with links this week as well – but im sick of explaining this to so many people so here it is
I would also love to make these things happen
- I think we need an factual news source. Here are the facts. It needs to be free and accessible to everyone.
- I think every platform should have a separate verification for government officials, and news sources (kinda like the fact check thing twitter did)
- Just like you see x amount of content that is sponsored, you would see x amount of news content. Its really not that hard to do. And there are plenty of people who are great at it.
- We need to stop trying to turn influencers into news sources (this will be elaborated on later).
- I think we could make a task force of social media savvy informants (parlor martyr) like – these are public forums.
- I think we need clearly defined criminal activity that will be taken down
- I think every site should require proof of age so that adults dont have to speak to children — its not safe for so many reasons — but we also should be able to talk about the things that are real to us…
- oh we cant ask them to do “fact ads” = but we can ask them to moderate? make that make sense to me please
- the war on porn is irrelevant –> sex workers and educators are needed and are VERY careful bc they know the rules. Give them a safe way to talk. Set the standards. but dont delete them…
I could go on for hours but – I wanted to get this up – Id love to talk more in depth – so lmk and we can set a Tik Tok live, a club house something,
Xo perfectionist me working on letting go <3
