And it's about to get worse
KENNY STANCIL for Common Dreams
Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube are failing to curb the spread
of right-wing extremism and disinformation on their platforms and must
immediately implement safeguards with the pivotal U.S. midterm elections less
than two weeks away, a watchdog warned Thursday.
By Phil Hands
In Empty Promises: Inside Big Tech's Weak Effort to Fight
Hate and Lies in 2022, Free Press analyzed the policies of
the four social media giants to measure how prepared each one is to
combat Trump-backed efforts to sow doubt
about upcoming electoral outcomes.
According to Free Press, "The
problem is just as dire in advance of the 2022 U.S. midterms as it was during
the nation's 2020 elections."
In particular, the report found that the major
social media networks have:
- Failed
to clearly update their election integrity systems in time for the
elections;
- Created
a labyrinth of company commitments, announcements, and policies that make
it difficult to assess what they're really doing, if anything, to protect
users; and
- Failed
to close what they call "newsworthiness" or "public
interest" exceptions that give prominent users and politicians a
"get out of jail free" card and allow them to post lies without
consequences from the platforms.
Free Press warned that these failures are
likely to be felt not only at polling stations on November 8, "but also on
the streets."
"The unchecked spread of online lies
about the 2020 election fueled real-world violence on January 6," said
Nora Benavidez, report author and senior counsel and director of digital
justice and civil rights at Free Press. "And although most people in the
United States now believe that Big Tech should do more to curb the online
spread of disinformation and incitements to violence, social media companies
keep failing to protect users."
As the report notes:
Change the Terms, a coalition of more than 60 civil and consumer
rights organizations, developed a set of 15 priority reforms for social media
companies to implement ahead of the midterm elections that would fight
algorithmic amplification of hate and lies, protect users across all languages,
and increase company transparency. Our coalition, of which Free Press is a
founding member, then met with Meta, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube throughout
the summer of 2022, calling on each company to implement these 15 priority
reforms as soon as possible and to share more data about their enforcement
practices around election integrity.
Although tech companies had promised to fight
disinformation and hate on their platforms this fall, there is a notable gap
between what the companies say they want to do and what they actually do in
practice. In sum, platforms do not have sufficient policies, practices, AI, or
human capital in place to materially mitigate harm ahead of and during the
November midterms.
"Even in writing, platforms like Meta,
TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube can't commit to the most basic online protections
to limit the spread of disinformation and hate," said Benavidez. "And
in practice, our research shows ongoing gaps in companies' enforcement of their
own meager safety policies."
"These are systemic failures across all
of the major social media companies that show how little the companies care
about safeguarding elections and fighting extremism and lies on their
platforms," she added.
After Twitter's new mega-billionaire owner,
Elon Musk, fired several of the platform's key leaders immediately upon taking over on Thursday night,
Benavidez warned that content moderation on the site is poised to become even
worse.
Free Press urged Facebook parent company Meta,
TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube to take the following steps to stem the spread of
bigotry and lies on their platforms:
- Stop
amplifying hate and disinformation content and implement algorithms
without discrimination;
- Protect
people equally around the world and across languages through increased
resourcing for civic integrity teams year-round; and
- Boost
transparency about company business models and moderation and enforcement
practices, ensuring access to data for external researchers and
journalists.
"We are less than two weeks from the U.S.
midterms," Benavidez tweeted. "Over 30 other national
elections have occurred around the world this year, featuring conspiracy
theories and lies fanned by online rhetoric that social media companies allow
to flourish."
"What will it take for the culture of Big
Tech to change?" she asked. "What will it take for civil and human
rights to become a real priority with evidence to show for it?"