THREAD ON TONIGHT:

For four years, this account has asked social platforms to simply follow their own Terms of Service which they, themselves wrote around hate, harassment, disinformation & violent threats.

Tonight is huge, as many of the platforms are finally doing it. 1

As good as it is seeing platforms like @twitter @facebook and @YouTube take action on the most extreme cases, they have largely ignored these problems for years, which has led to a significant degradation in everything from democracy to personal safety, including Tuesday’s coup.2

This is not and has never been a free speech issue. These platforms are massively profitable advertising and data mining companies. They are under no obligation to provide anyone with a platform, especially violent & racist users. No one is owed a spot on these networks. 3

Until now, they’ve only taken quarter measures to both placate their critics while trying to maximize their engagement and profits at the same time. The more anger, disinformation and harassment, the more money they make, so they largely did nothing. 4

Tonight is a big step, yes, but the problems will absolutely continue. These companies deserve no thanks or congratulations for what they should have done years ago and should do in the future. These companies helped take us to the brink this last week. 5

As cynical as this sounds, it seems like these companies made a change because of a change in the administration. If so, this is not good. As they control the flow of information around the world, they cannot and should not be so susceptible to the political winds. 6

Social platforms cannot simply pander to ruling parties, giving them the chance to manipulate an electorate. We’ve already seen what this did in Myanmar and now in Ethiopia, where these platforms are creating an environment for political strife and human rights violations. 7

It is time for common sense reform, regulation and oversight of these companies. It will not be easy, but it’s necessary. We cannot leave the fate of our society in the hands of 6 or so CEOs that we did not elect and who are in no way qualified to be making these decisions. 8

Today is good, but the work continues.

Let’s keep it up. END