First came the bots, then came the bosses - we’re entering Musk and Zuck’s new era of disinformation | Joan Donovan
First came the bots, then came the bosses - we’re entering Musk and Zuck’s new era of disinformation | Joan Donovan
Tech leaders’ politics are encoded into their platforms – and with Trump’s ascent, they have direct access to the Oval Office
All of the disinformation about corrupt vote counts turned out not to be necessary, as Donald Trump won the election decisively. But the election proved that disinformation is no longer the provenance of anonymous accounts amplified by bots to mimic human engagement, like it was in 2016. In 2024, lies travel further and faster across social media, which is now a battleground for narrative dominance. And now, the owners of the platforms circulating the most incendiary lies have direct access to the Oval Office.
Content moderation at these platforms now reflects the principles of the CEO and what that person believes is in the public’s interest. The political opinions of tech’s overlords, like Musk and Zuckerberg, are now directly embedded in their algorithms.
For example, Meta has limited the circulation of critical discussions about political power, reportedly even downranking posts that use the word “vote” on Instagram. Meta’s Twitter clone, Threads, suspended journalists for reporting on Trump’s former chief of staff describing Trump’s admiration of Hitler. Threads built in a politics filter that is turned on by default.
Many more where those came from.
40Pretty happy over here on Mastodon.
13Bluesky has been surprisingly nice as well. Quite populated (growing a lot lately), interesting user moderation tools (go completely feral or block whatever), user lists and feeds and 'starter packs' to get up to speed fast, no fucked up algorithms.
But the point is: For the love of dogs, stop using those other terrible (bot and ad infested, abusive, poorly moderated, outrage obsessed) platforms!
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Yeah who's "we"?
Fuck that.
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