How social media 'censorship' became a front line in the culture war

[Nevilledog]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/10/09/social-media-content-moderation/

No paywall
https://archive.ph/KPf0w

Early last year, amid mounting criticism that social media was spreading disinformation about covid-19, Facebook expanded an unprecedented campaign to police falsehoods by banning what it called “debunked claims” about the virus. Among them: The claim that covid was “man-made” and had leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China.

To the Biden administration and the scientific establishment, Facebook’s efforts to rein in misinformation were too little, too late, given how its network had helped false and damaging claims to go viral in the first place. But others complained that the crackdowns squelched legitimate debate about the frustrating performance of public health authorities — a view that was partly vindicated when China’s lack of transparency prompted prominent scientists to declare the lab-leak theory “viable” and demand further investigation.

In May 2021, barely three months after it imposed the ban, Facebook backtracked: “In light of ongoing investigations into the origin of Covid-19 and in consultation with public health experts,” the company said, “we will no longer remove the claim that Covid-19 is man-made from our apps.”

What people can and can’t say online — and the role of Big Tech in making those calls — has emerged as a critical fault line in American politics. The left cries for content moderation to tamp down disinformation, racism and misogyny. The right decries that as censorship and demands the right to free speech.

*snip*

[Claustrum]

1. BS. Republicans censor democratic ideas just as much.

It's just that the media company drew the line over misinformation, racist comments, over-the-top violent rhetoric and that's basically all of the right is talking about. So they cry censorship now. They don't mind the censorship if it's the other side's idea/words.