(LibertySociety.com) – Since the emergence of the internet, Big Tech has been the primary controller of the public’s information consumption, determining what qualifies as disinformation or not. Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, these companies have made it a point to restrict news promoting Russia while pushing pro-Ukrainian information. While the intentions may be noble, the move also allowed propaganda from Ukraine and Russia to increase and spread information that didn’t accurately reflect what was taking place in the country. Whether citizens get their information from online social media platforms or official news outlets, site controllers largely determine the narrative.
After the 2020 election controversy started, Big Tech was quick to silence former President Donald Trump by removing him from platforms entirely. The whole Big Brother overreach raises the question of how well these companies are siphoning information before it reaches the masses.
Controlling Disinformation
Social media professor and expert Andrew Selepak said identifying false information is essential, whether the story supports Russia or Ukraine. If Big Tech doesn’t accomplish the task properly, Americans and the rest of the world have no choice but to believe whatever spin comes through on various platforms online. That information may or may not reflect the truth, making information restrictions dangerous.
In fact, whatever a person believes, no matter how bizarre, they can likely find confirmation bias somewhere online. That empowers people to believe whatever they want with no set answer on what exactly is the truth.
Double Standard and Answers
Unfortunately, the sheer amount of information posted on the internet from unverified sources isn’t easy to manage. Even with a verification team, Big Tech employees would have to work non-stop to vet every piece of data and every story, making it impossible to weed out the truth. Plus, employees from these organizations originate from all over the world and have different viewpoints, which may skew what they believe to be the truth and what they let come through. Take Trump, for example. Various social media platforms banned him entirely while leaving terrorists’ accounts intact to spread their messages.
So, the question isn’t whether Big Tech is doing anything to stop harmful content from spreading, but are they doing enough? The answer is a resounding no. While the companies might attempt to apply a standard across the board to ban misinformation, the very process includes an amount of bias that is nearly impossible to avoid.
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