Big Tech Chose Violence

Meta’s policy changes now make it easier to target marginalized groups with harassment.

America rang in the New Year to news of two terrorist attacks. A massacre in New Orleans with 15 dead, and a suicidal car bombing in Las Vegas. Both attackers had a backstory we’re all too familiar with because we’ve seen it so many times before: They’d been radicalized online.

It is and isn’t that simple. I’m loath to blame social media entirely for radicalizing anyone, especially since there are so many other factors that clearly play into it, and offline indicators we see again and again. When you look at the perpetrators of these attacks, there are generally stories of domestic violence, guns, misogyny, military or police association, etc. But we can also often see the arc of an attacker’s radicalization hidden in plain sight from their online footprint. Even if they don’t leave a manifesto, the evidence of when and how they were radicalized can generally be found online. And because news coverage tends to sensationalize the attackers rather than focus on those harmed, it’s a trope Americans are well aware of by now.

For the MAGA Right, the terror and violence is a feature, not a bug. Incitement of violence is key to the political strategy. Lone wolf radicalized terrorists are helpful stooges in that they’ll enact the violence incited by MAGA elites and then assume all of the blame and consequences. It’s useful that these guys rarely have ideological worldviews that fit neatly into a partisan frame, making it easy for MAGA to disavow and distance themselves from the attackers themselves. Trump and MAGA used the New Orleans attack as a vehicle to spread anti-immigrant propaganda, ignoring that the attacker was a citizen born in the US and a veteran. Not that the truth matters to them.

All of this was top of mind for me when the Facebook news broke on Tuesday. Less than two weeks out from these latest domestic terrorist attacks, and the day after the 4th anniversary of the January 6 Insurrection, CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a video to announce massive policy changes around trust and safety and content moderation. Zuckerberg credits these changes as part of a “cultural tipping point towards, once again, prioritizing speech.”

Zuckerberg doesn’t specify whose speech he means but mentions that Meta will work with President Trump to push back on policy restrictions in other countries. Facebook plans to welcome back right-wing extremists and conspiracy-mongers with open arms. It’s even reintroducing “civic content” after years of deemphasizing it on the platforms, making MAGA’s propaganda efforts that much easier.

Most of the press coverage focused on Meta ending its fact-checking partnerships, but I think that misses the real harm. The fact-checking program was never as robust as it needed to be, and there are multiple examples of fact-checkers being overruled due to political pressure from the Right.

The bigger story, at least in my mind, is that Meta’s policy changes now make it easier to target marginalized groups with harassment. Under the new policies, Meta users can now say that gay and trans people are mentally ill or refer to people who identify as transgender as “it,” among other changes. Users can also refer to women as “household objects or property”. Kate Klonick has the redlined documents of what was removed from the policy, including removing a line acknowledging that hate speech “creates an environment of intimidation and exclusion, and in some cases may promote offline violence.”

Mark Zuckerberg and the leadership at Meta know the consequences of their decisions. They have access to the same research and news that we do, as well as whatever internal research Meta has done that still hasn’t been leaked to the public. A former Meta trust and safety employee described the changes to Platformer as “a precursor for genocide.” (Another genocide since Facebook has been credibly accused of contributing to one previously.) Zuckerberg is also smart enough to know how these changes will politically aid the incoming Trump administration. We can debate whether Zuckerberg is feeling political pressure, whether he agrees with Trump, or if it’s a combination of multiple factors. But it is an informed and deliberate choice.

Making the decisions to end Meta’s DEI program and brag about your new Trumpian posture by going on Joe Rogan’s podcast are also deliberate and informed choices.

As I wrote last month, a lot of rich and powerful people have pledged their loyalty to Trump 2.0. Zuckerberg’s actions are in line with Elon Musk’s turning Twitter into the rightwing hellscape now known as X, even modeling Facebook’s new community notes feature after X’s own. Zuckerberg might not have personally fallen down the rabbit hole in the same way that Elon has, but Meta’s policies will almost certainly create more dehumanization, more radicalization, and result in more violence.

At this point, you’re probably considering your own use of Meta’s platforms, which include Facebook, Whatsapp, and Instagram. I can’t tell you what choice to make, especially since most of the tech platforms are terrible. Including Substack, which publishes this newsletter. Here’s my advice: if you use social media to create, share, advocate, or advertise, don’t rely on any one product. Diversify, invest your time in alternatives, and build networks outside of the platforms wherever you can.

Meanwhile, MAGA and Elon Musk have spent much of this week blaming California politicians and “woke” firefighters for the wildfires, including sharing photos of LA’s Fire Department leadership, an action that endangers these folks on top of the crisis they’re already dealing with. The incitement and amplification of it for broader engagement continues unabated across multiple tech platforms. Even as it potentially hinders the response. Political opportunism — and profit — continue to take precedence over human decency. All this while America’s next domestic terrorist is perhaps sitting online at home, engulfed in yet another path to radicalization.

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ICYMI

Women in Congress Reflect on January 6 While Preparing for Trump's Return (The 19th News)

For those who work at the Capitol and were present four years ago, the insurrection remains a traumatic event. I hope we never stop telling the stories of those who bore witness and its impact on them. Especially those still going to the Capitol every day for their jobs.

Scoop: Heritage Foundation Plans to ‘Identify and Target’ Wikipedia Editors (The Forward)

Last year, the Heritage Foundation came for Federal government workers, and now they’re turning their ire on volunteers who edit Wikipedia pages.

How Right-Wing Media is Like Improv Theater (The Conversation)

This resonated with me as a way to think about Right-Wing Media, particularly how it manages to turn everything into outrage bait.

How a Mole Infiltrated the Highest Ranks of American Militias (ProPublica)

You might have seen this one already, but I’m including it because it’s a hell of a story. Both of the infiltrator and what he’s uncovered.

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Coda

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