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TIL the only platform that POTUS has available to him is Facebook, and without it, he has no means of making his words heard by the entire world. https://twitter.com/snowden/status/1347224002671108098
The problem with takes like this is that they treat both individuals and platforms as though they exist in a vacuum. Someone with the power of POTUS has *always* had access broadcast channels. This is not a person without a voice who is being denied their only opp to be heard.
At the same time, *because* POTUS does implicitly have such a large, trusting audience, it is not “unfair” that his words should garner greater scrutiny, whether it be for fact-checking or for incitement.
What I’m essentially saying here is that while it does make sense to look at how social media access intersects with the right to free expression, it is moot when it comes to someone who already has the ability to make themselves heard by anyone at any time.
There’s a line, and it’s definitely fuzzy, between curation and censorship, when it comes to social media. A tweet that bends the facts for effect. A post that accuses someone without evidence. A photo that is attributed to the wrong event as an example.
And the impact of all of these change - dramatically - if the audience is 100 people or 10,000 people. And then again, if it goes viral.
It’s a fuzzy line. But with Trump, we’re so far on one side of that line, it doesn’t matter how fuzzy it is.
It’s a fuzzy line. But with Trump, we’re so far on one side of that line, it doesn’t matter how fuzzy it is.
We are not talking about someone who is struggling to be heard, whose only hope of getting their message out there is that their post to social media gets traction.
We are talking about someone who can get news cameras at any time of the day or night.
We are talking about someone who can get news cameras at any time of the day or night.
We are also not talking about a few stretched truths or misspoken phrases. We’re talking about someone who routinely lies, threatens, and incites his considerable base.
Taking away one platform is nowhere near silencing him.
Taking away one platform is nowhere near silencing him.
