Social Media Faces Reckoning As Trump Ban Forces Reset

Washington, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jan, 2021 ) :Social media giants crossed a threshold in banning US President Donald Trump and an array of his supporters -- and now face a quandary on defining their efforts to remain politically neutral while promoting democracy and free speech.

After the unprecedented violence in the seat of Congress, Trump was banned for inciting the rioters -- on platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Google-owned YouTube and Snapchat. The alternative network Parler, which drew many Trump backers, was forced offline by Amazon's web services unit.

The bans broke new ground for internet firms but also shattered the longstanding notion that they are simply neutral platforms open for all to express any views.

"Banning Donald Trump was a crossing of a Rubicon for social media firms, and they can't go back," said Samuel Woolley, a professor and researcher with the University of Texas Center for Media Engagement.

"Up to now their biggest goal was to promote free speech, but recent events have shown they can no longer do this." Twitter chief Jack Dorsey last week defended the Trump ban while acknowledging it stemmed from "a failure of ours ultimately to promote healthy conversation" and that it "sets a precedent I feel is dangerous: the power an individual or corporation has over a part of the global public conversation." Javier Pallero, policy director for the digital rights nonprofit group Access Now, said the banning of Trump could be just the beginning for social media firms grappling with dangerous content, including from political leaders.

"The companies have reacted to calls for violence by the president in the United States, and that's a good call. But they have failed in other areas like Myanmar," where social media has been used to carry out persecution, Pallero said.

- Platform power - Trump's ban was a major step for Twitter, which the president used for policy announcements and to connect with his more than 80 million followers. Until recently, platforms have given world leaders leeway when enforcing rules, noting that their comments are in the public interest even if they are inflammatory.

The de-platforming of Trump underscored the immense power of a handful of social networks over information flows, noted Bret Schafer, a researcher with the nonprofit Alliance for Securing Democracy.

"One of the things that compelled them to act was that we saw the president's rhetoric manifest itself into real-world violence," Schafer said. "That may be where they draw the line."But he noted inconsistencies in enforcing these policies in other parts of the world, including in authoritarian regimes.

"The is a legitimate argument on whether leaders in some of these countries should be allowed to have an account when their citizens do not, and can't take part in the discussion," Schafer said.