The Power Of Social Media

There is no doubt about it – we live in a world where social media has real power. Giants like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others have the power to shape the way people think by hosting the content citizens see on a daily basis. They give ordinary people like you and me the opportunity to connect with others and share our views on topics that are important to us. However, when this freedom to share opinions is restricted to only the views of the politically correct, the free flow of information is threatened. Naturally, social media giants have always denied restricting free speech, but that may not be the case.

This issue has been brought to the spotlight by a recent article from the German newspaper SZ-Magazin, which reported that Facebook is secretly censoring the content that we are allowed to see. They have created special “protected categories” that users are not allowed to speak ill of, such as gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and others. Facebook trains employees to recognize posts that fit into these categories and delete them. Often, these employees who control the flow of information are minimum wage workers who are ill-equipped with broad and blurry rules to enforce.

Whether or not social media is a big part of your life, this problem should be a cause for concern. The free exchange of differing opinions is foundational to the success of our country. Our Founding Fathers understood this fact long before social media was ever conceived. By protecting free speech, we allow individual citizens to learn about a variety of opinions on a topic and make their own informed decision. Social media platforms should adopt that same constitutional philosophy.

Facebook has the ability to be a powerful engine of democracy and freedom. Censorship of opinions is simply the antithesis of freedom. As a private company, Facebook has the right to decide what content is on their website. However, as consumers, it is up to us to hold them accountable and to demand that our voices be heard. We must oppose the censorship of any viewpoint in order to secure the right to share our own.

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