Read on Twitter
So, I wrote a thing https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/no-its-not-proof-bias-social-media-companies-enforce-their-rules
One of the more irritating things I see on here is the endless complaints from people on the right that they're the victims of "anti-conservative bias" on social media.
Tweet gets taken down for breaking a rule? Bias.
Don't like a new feature? Bias.
It's Thursday? Bias.
Tweet gets taken down for breaking a rule? Bias.
Don't like a new feature? Bias.
It's Thursday? Bias.
Just yesterday GOP members of Congress got themselves worked up into a rage because Twitter prompted them to read an article before retweeting it, suggesting this was because it was a link to Sean Hannity's site. https://twitter.com/JudiciaryGOP/status/1318963845076029441
But that wasn't the case. As many of you have probably noticed over the past 24 hours or so, that happens with any article you try to retweet without first clicking. To demonstrate this, I did a small amount of trolling of that GOP account: https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/1319002304687853569
The communications department at Twitter quote tweeted them to clear up what this was: https://twitter.com/TwitterComms/status/1318995536880467968
Undeterred, GOP members of Congress left the lie up, and more members did the same thing. https://twitter.com/RepDougCollins/status/1318976241853210625
Are they evil? Are they morons? At a certain point, it doesn't really matter, does it?
So anyway...
So anyway...
So this conservative group, the Media Research Center, put out a study that shows that Trump's social media accounts have been "censored" 65 times while Biden's haven't been "censored" at all.
Naturally, the right-wing media ecosystem, the particle accelerator of misinformation it is, just ran with it.
The messaging of the piece was meant to be that this was evidence of bias.
The messaging of the piece was meant to be that this was evidence of bias.
I started looking through the "censorship" examples MRC listed.
Each example they provided was a pretty clear violation of Twitter's rules. You know, the ones we all have to follow. And also, most of the time the "censorship" was just Twitter adding additional context. For instance.
Those clearly broke the rules.
1. It falsely claimed that there was "no way" mail-in voting would be anything other than "fraudulent"
2. It contained misinformation bout how to get a mail-in ballot
3. It included a lie about people "telling them how to vote"
1. It falsely claimed that there was "no way" mail-in voting would be anything other than "fraudulent"
2. It contained misinformation bout how to get a mail-in ballot
3. It included a lie about people "telling them how to vote"
Twitter very clearly outlines what happens to accounts caught breaking this rule.
As you can see, Trump wasn't held to the same standards as the rest of us. Twitter didn't force him to delete the tweet. His tweet is still up.
More on that in a bit.
As you can see, Trump wasn't held to the same standards as the rest of us. Twitter didn't force him to delete the tweet. His tweet is still up.
More on that in a bit.
The next one is bizarre because Twitter didn't do... anything to Trump's account.
Trump twice tweeted a video edited to show Biden listening to NWA, captioning it as though it was totally real, not as though he was in on the joke. But again, nothing on his account.
Trump twice tweeted a video edited to show Biden listening to NWA, captioning it as though it was totally real, not as though he was in on the joke. But again, nothing on his account.
Twitter added a "manipulated media" tag to the clip to let people know that no, Biden wasn't listening to NWA, he was playing "Despacito" after being introduced at an event by Luis Fonsi. It makes more sense in that context, obviously, even if it's a bit "pokemon go to the polls"
The video itself was eventually pulled from the site. (This is another thing we'll bump into a bit) The person with publishing rights to that NWA song must have filed a takedown notice, so the vid went down on copyright grounds.
MRC has tried to call it Twitter "censoring" Trump whenever something he posts gets taken down on copyright grounds.
"Memes apparently are not allowed on the president's account either!" (sigh)
From MRC:
"Memes apparently are not allowed on the president's account either!" (sigh)
From MRC:
(Here's one of those times I'm glad I took a legal aspects of the arts class in college.)
One of the examples cited with a video featuring an REM song. Universal Music Publishing filed a takedown request, and Twitter pulled it down.
"Censorship!" Well, no.
One of the examples cited with a video featuring an REM song. Universal Music Publishing filed a takedown request, and Twitter pulled it down.
"Censorship!" Well, no.
One of the things that keeps platforms like Twitter and YouTube and really anywhere that allows users to upload their own content from being constantly sued into oblivion for copyright infringement, is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's safe harbor provision.
The tl;dr is that platforms basically are not liable for copyright infringement so long as they quickly respond to takedown requests.
In other words, that's out of Twitter's hands. They are legally obligated to take it down if a copyright holder files a claim.
In other words, that's out of Twitter's hands. They are legally obligated to take it down if a copyright holder files a claim.
One of the other examples of "censorship" MRC talks about is the time Trump's campaign posted 88 copies of an ad featuring Nazi iconography.
Setting aside the fact that Facebook has strict ad policies and ads get flagged all the time... is this really the hill to die on, guys?
Setting aside the fact that Facebook has strict ad policies and ads get flagged all the time... is this really the hill to die on, guys?
Twitter and Facebook removed a video featuring a group of doctors. Why? Yes, it was filled with misinformation, but mostly, it was that the person in it made the false claim that a certain medication was a "cure." It is not a "cure." "Cure" isn't just a word you can toss around.
Twitter first released rules about COVID misinformation back in March. Had the people in the video not made the demonstratively false claim of having a "cure," it'd have probably stayed up. But this kind of misinformation can hurt people. https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2020/covid-19.html#protecting
Twitter is not biased against Trump or conservatives.
Facebook is not biased against Trump or conservatives.
The reason the "bias" narrative is one sided is that the right have a whole network of websites and the most popular cable network in the country at their disposal.
Facebook is not biased against Trump or conservatives.
The reason the "bias" narrative is one sided is that the right have a whole network of websites and the most popular cable network in the country at their disposal.
There's no equivalent on the left. No, MSNBC is not a Democratic equivalent of Fox. Fox has people on all day during news shows and opinion shows to yell about minor grievances. MSNBC hasn't ever had someone on TV to discuss their Twitter account being locked on accident. Fox has
When Democrats get suspended or have content flagged on social media, they just sort of fade away. When it happens to Republicans, they lose their minds. Here, I'll show you.
So the other day, Facebook flagged a post from the Babylon Bee, a satire site for right-wing boomers who inevitably think they're just reading the regular news. (see: Trump, Donald)
So that site posted a story that was a warmed-over Monty Python bit that had Mazie Hirono accusing AC Barrett of Being a witch. For the text to go along with it, they chose a line that ended "We must burn her!"
Facebook flagged it for using language to incite violence. Ok, so..
Facebook flagged it for using language to incite violence. Ok, so..
Obviously, in context, it wasn't meant to "incite violence." It was a joke, however hackneyed it may be. So anyway, I saw this tweet and while I think that site is unbelievably dumb, it was clear what happened: Facebook's move to AI-based moderation is clunky and messes up.
I replied to the tweet, pointing out what was pretty clearly the case https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/1317684495705919489
