Topline
Right-wing Twitter users, many of whom have spent months decrying a long list of businesses as “woke,” are targeting Meta’s new social platform Threads for allegedly censoring conservative voices, including Donald Trump, Jr., though Meta claims a misinformation warning attached to his account was an error.
Some conservatives have accused Threads of attempting to censor right-wing voices. (Photo by STEFANI … [+]
Key Facts
Meta launched its Twitter competitor, Threads, Wednesday night, and the platform has already reached 70 million downloads as of Friday morning, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.
Twitter users — many of the same ones who have criticized businesses for being ‘woke’ in recent months — were quick to accuse the platform of censoring right-wing voices: Screenshots of a message prompted upon following Donald Trump Jr.’s Threads account, which warns he has “repeatedly posted false information,” went viral.
Trump Jr. responded on Twitter, stating: “Threads not exactly off to a great start.”
Screenshots of similar warnings for other right-wing Threads users also circulated Twitter, including a warning for conservative commentator Rogan O’Handley, who tweeted to his nearly one million followers the false information message was attached to his account after he “posted once about wanting to expose Biden’s corrupt government.”
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone addressed both Trump Jr. and O’Handley’s misinformation labels on Twitter, claiming the warnings were errors and have been fixed, for which Trump Jr. thanked him.
A Meta spokesperson told Forbes posts on Threads are subject to Instagram’s Community Guidelines, which forbid content including hate speech, credible threats, nudity, spam and illegal content.
Instagram previously announced in 2019 it had begun using third-party fact checkers to identify and label false information and reduce distribution of posts containing misinformation.
Chief Critics
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) quote-tweeted a post containing the Trump Jr. misinformation message, stating: “Threads will be the same Marxist style social media experience that Zuckerberg usually offers.” Popular right-wing Twitter account “End Wokeness,” which has 1.3 million followers, tweeted Threads is “a scam,” attaching a screenshot of the Trump Jr. misinformation message and a screenshot of the Threads page in the App Store, which contains of a list of data the app may collect from users. The screenshot lists a number of data categories, including health and fitness, financial information, contact information, search history and browsing history, among other categories. The data screenshot has also circulated and garnered criticism on Twitter, though Instagram’s page in the App Store says it collects the same data categories and Twitter’s page indicates it collects fewer, but many of the same categories. End Wokeness also criticized Zuckerberg’s dominance in the social media market, pointing to Meta’s ownership of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp and its launch of a Twitter competitor. Social commentary YouTube channel The Quartering, which has 1.5 million subscribers, uploaded a video Thursday calling Threads “woke trash,” accusing the platform of censoring conservatives with misinformation labels. Conservative pundit Dave Rubin, who has more than 1.4 million Twitter followers, criticized Threads for alleged censorship and praised Twitter, which he considered a “site dedicated to free speech,” as a superior alternative.
Key Background
Twitter has placed more emphasis on “free speech” under the leadership of Elon Musk, who purchased the company last year. Musk, who has described himself as a “free speech absolutist,” led the platform in adopting a “Freedom of Speech, Not Reach” policy, under which tweets that violate Twitter’s rules will have their reach restricted, making them less discoverable, but will not be taken down. According to the policy, “Twitter users have the right to express their opinions and ideas without fear of censorship.” After Musk, who is frequently political and has used Twitter to support Republicans and decry “wokeness,” took over Twitter, studies showed the use of hate speech in tweets rose quickly. Meta, which has had misinformation proliferate on its platforms, has since taken measures like making algorithmic changes to limit political speech. Some actions Facebook has taken, including deleting some political accounts for “inauthentic behavior” and spamming, have been criticized as censorship.
Tangent
Threads was released in a surprise announcement on Wednesday night following rumors of Meta creating a platform to compete directly with Twitter. The platform is considered the most serious in a long line of Twitter competitors (which include Bluesky, Mastodon, and Spill, among others) and instantly rocketed to the top spot in the App Store, racking up millions of users including celebrities like Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian, Oprah Winfrey and Gordon Ramsay. Tensions between Zuckerberg and Musk have continued to simmer amid Threads’ debut, with Musk threatening to sue Meta over allegedly violating Twitter’s “intellectual property rights” and criticizing Meta’s “social media monopoly.”
Further Reading
Mark Zuckerberg’s Threads backtracks on ‘censoring’ Donald Trump Jr. (New York Post)
Musk Calls Out Meta’s ‘Algorithm-Only’ Approach And ‘Social Media Monopoly’ After Threads Hits 30 Million Milestone (Forbes)
Twitter Threatens Lawsuit Against Meta Over ‘Copycat’ Threads App (Forbes)
No Hashtags, No Chronological Timeline And Mobile Only: How Meta’s ‘Threads’ Differs From Twitter (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2023/07/07/conservatives-accuse-threads-of-censorship-but-meta-claims-it-was-an-error/