In 2003, when famous actor and weightlifter Arnold Schwarzenegger was running for governor of California, TV stations found themselves with an issue. If his movies were to play on the air, it would be unfair to his opponent, Gray Davis, as Schwarzenegger would become much more familiar to California voters, and would possibly influence their vote. Therefore, for the two months leading up to the 2003 election, television stations in California were not allowed to broadcast his films until the election had concluded.
While this was over 20 years ago, the effort of television and broadcasting stations to try and appear neutral is a sentiment that is becoming harder and harder to find today. While many people still watch news on their televisions, getting a news update from an app on their phone is much faster, not to mention more accessible. What is even easier than reading the news on a phone, though? Opening a social media app to read a recent post from a politician.
Social media has become one of the fastest growing ways to get news whenever it is needed, but it is difficult to figure out what is true. It is even more difficult to figure out if the app that is being used is somehow biased, even as deep as its programming.
On Jan. 14, Mark Zuckerberg announced his plans to completely change Meta’s governing policies: he is getting rid of fact-checking, loosening restrictions placed on how minority groups are spoken about and placing more political content on the average person’s feed. All of this occurred after Zuckerberg returned from a trip to Mar-a-Lago, President-elect Trump’s club/home in Palm Beach, Fla.
Basically, what this demonstrates is the fact that Zuckerberg is caving in to demands placed on him by Trump. After all, in 2021, Trump was banned on almost all social media platforms, including all of those run by Meta, as well as Twitter — now X — before it was bought out by Elon Musk. Again, what this tells me is that with enough money and power, anyone can control the free speech of not only an entire country, but also the millions of people who use a social media platform around the world.
Speaking of X, Elon Musk has become prominently associated with Trump as of late, as both a major donor to his campaign and an ally. In fact, they have become so close that Trump has recently placed him, along with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, in charge of the new Department of Government Efficiency, despite their concerning lack of experience in government. At this point, Musk has solidified his place in the American political system, and has proven to be a formidable threat to the online world.
Lastly, a more recent example of this total control over social platforms comes through TikTok. Banned in the U.S. on Jan. 19, and restored just hours later on Jan. 20, Trump took full credit for the restoration on an app-wide message. However, by looking through past statements over the last couple of years, it is clear that a total 180 in his mindset. Trump went from supporting a ban due to national security, to reinstating it to try and turn an entire generation in his favor.
Something about it just does not sit right.
Overall, the lack of restraint on our politicians when it comes to controlling social media platforms is astonishing. When their Chief Executive Officers are willing to bend to any request out of fear for their jobs or worse, it causes a feeling of helplessness toward those using the platforms; as if they cannot speak out on their own opinions without some form of backlash. If a politician has that much control over our free speech, especially on such a fast-growing source of information, it sets a dangerous precedent for censorship and renders us unable to hold those in power accountable.
