Remember, when they say “misinformation”, they mean “speech we don’t like.”

The next time you see an article saying that Facebook or some other public platform is spreading misinformation, understand that the only reason why they don’t use the term “bad speech” is because that would be too obvious.

Asking Facebook to crack down on misinformation is like asking the government to only allow “good speech.” Please, find me a difference.

The typical response is that since it’s a “private company, they could do whatever they want. Essentially allowing Big Tech to go full 1984 because it’s not the government.

What people can’t quite grasp (or are intentionally deluding themselves) is that these internet companies are where speech takes place nowadays. Just as newspapers were for hundreds of years.

If the main place for (perhaps controversial) speech is in/on a certain place, the government which enforces the freedom of speech should do so on Twitter, Facebook, etc.

And please, keep the stupid libertarian talking point of “wElL iTS a PRivAtE cOMpaNY iF yOu dOn’T lIkE iT mAke yOu’RE oWn.” An actual company tried that but got shut down by bigger companies.

Free speech should be a mandate for every company that tries to brand itself as a public platform. It’s that simple.

If, however, someone says something online that is not protected speech and is illegal they should get arrested and prosecuted for it. I don’t see why tech companies should have that responsibility. We literally have law enforcement for this purpose.

Twitter chose the wrong time to do this.