Fact-Checked on Facebook and Twitter, Conservatives Switch Their Apps

 

Jordan Silva

Economic Freedom

Dr. Eubanks

Blog 5

 

Fact-Checked on Facebook and Twitter, Conservatives Switch Their Apps

(https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/technology/parler-rumble-newsmax.html)

 

This article was of particular interest to me because of our First Amendment right to free speech. Social media outlets Twitter and Facebook have been fact checking and censoring posts by taking them down completely or labeling them as misinformation. According to the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” (constitution.congress.gov). Twitter and Facebook being private companies have rules and regulations that every user agrees to and therefore give these companies the right to censor what they believe is misinformation such as the many post stating that the election has been stolen from President Trump and that he has actually won! “The companies have denied censoring conservatives and typically point to their terms of service when an account breaks the rules. And while many conservatives are upset about their content being labeled or hidden, they are less willing to acknowledge that their posts can often clash with Facebook’s guidelines around disinformation and harmful content.” (NY Times). Many conservatives are switching from the mainstream social media apps to others that have a much looser stance on censoring its users posts if they are misleading or false.

Parler is one of the new apps that many conservatives are switching to. “Over the weekend, Parler shot to the top of Apple’s App Store in downloads. As of Monday, it had eight million members, nearly double the 4.5 million it had last week.” (NY Times). If certain people are upset with Twitter and Facebook’s stance on censoring or labeling information as false or misleading here is your alternative.” On Parler, users can see posts about MAGA fodder and QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy theory that asserts that some top Democrats are satanic pedophiles. Anti-Semitic theories abound.” (NY Times). People should always have the right to say whatever they please but, if certain companies have rules that slow or stop the spreading of misinformation, they have the right to do so!