Social media is a platform where people can connect as well as stay informed. Social media has continued to grow and now has many platforms, such as X (formally Twitter) and Facebook. It is also a place where a lot of people get their information from, including news and politics. People are able to express their opinions and views about current topics and let people know how they feel and why they feel that way. We are able to do this because of our first amendment rights, our freedom of speech. However, social media is also causing controversy around this issue because of possible misinformation people may obtain.
Social media has had many benefits to society and has kept people in contact with each other as well as keeping everyone informed. It is a place where people can voice their opinions and share their beliefs. It is a way for family and friends to stay in touch and post pictures and share events that are happening. It has also where debates can happen and people can share why they feel the way they do. It has now become popular platforms where politics are discussed and where people get their information about what is going on. This, however, has also led to the issue of misinformation and the affect it has on people. This has began the governments attempt of trying to block certain information, and the start of us losing our freedom of speech.
Social media may provide many benefits to society but it also has many harmful effects. Over the past few years Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, has gone in front of the senate multiple times to face questions of their regulations and allowing this harmful content. Social media is also a place where you can harm someone, or commit illegal activities such as using it for black mail. I have heard many stories of blackmail attempts being made where if one person didn’t do what another wanted they would post embarrassing or harmful information or pictures on Facebook. Bullying has become a big issues on social media, even causing some people to have commit suicide because of the constant harassment. Predators have taken advantage of children who are on social media. These are issues, unlike the problems surrounding misinformation, that should not be allowed and in some cases are illegal and should face criminal prosecution. These are the types of issues that need to have a solution on how to stop from happening.
Misinformation and what stories should be allowed and what shouldn’t is a different issue. Although misinformation could have negative effects on people and lead them to make decisions based on wrong information, the problem is determining what is misinformation and who is making that determination. The reason misinformation has become such a topic of debate is because of the election interference it cause. The biggest problem I have seen with this issue is determining what information has the most harmful effects and determining where that information has come from. A lot of the misinformation that is online comes from other countries who are purposely posting false stories to sway people’s beliefs one way or another. This is not the same thing as someone posting a story they belief to be true or an opinion someone has on an issue and that information being blocked because it isn’t agreeable to certain people. This is where our freedom of speech is being threatened.
The first issue I do have a problem with and should not be allowed is other countries posting stories that are completely untrue. Countries are doing this to sway American citizens beliefs and attempt to interfere in our elections. In an attempt to combat this issue the Department of Justice just indicated two employees of a Russian state media company who are suspected of trying to interfere in our election by promoting false stories to the American public that were favorable to Russia. Russia is not the only country that has done this and any other country interfering in our elections should be stopped however we can. Americans place their vote for American president based on our beliefs they will be the best for us and our country. This is another effect that social media is used for and is something that we also need to find ways to stop from happening.
The biggest concern I have seen is the government using other countries interference as an excuse to claim any unfavorable story as misinformation or a false story from another country. This misinformation concern, which gave rise to “fake news”, has become a much bigger problem and is becoming the reason to restrict our free speech. American citizens who have posted stories or expressed certain political views on social media that a certain party didn’t agree with have been kicked off these social media platforms. CEO’s of social media have been pressured by our government to block certain content they deem to be misinformation. By doing this parties in our own government are interfering in our election. This has also created the division we now have in our country, people fighting because they are getting different information from different sources. When our government does it, in my opinion it is more harmful than when another country does it.
The issue of misinformation became much more of an issue during the 2016 election and has continued to be more of a problem. There are many times when a negative story came out and was immediately classified as “Russian Misinformation” only to determine that the story was accurate. One of the biggest examples of this is the Hunter Biden laptop story. When this story came out the Biden administration immediately told people it was misinformation and that the story needed to be taken off social media. Later on the American people learned that the story was true and accurate. This is just an example of the problem I have with this issue but their are many other instances where this has occurred.
Misinformation can also be done by taking a story out of context and twisting it around to fit a certain belief. When someone only takes part of a statement they are able to twist those words around to make people the statement meant whatever they want to. This is a problem I have seen too many times to count, and the media is the worst culprit of this. This has led to people posting inaccurate information on social media and causes people to start believing stories that aren’t true. This has become one of the biggest issues I have seen and has effected people beliefs much more than misinformation from other countries. Although both parties have done it, in my personal beliefs it is done much, much more to paint the democrats in a better light. This belief is from me gathering as much information as possible to make my decision and once that is done it is pretty clear to see.
The biggest interference in our election is coming from within our country. When our government is criticizing people for their beliefs and trying to block people from sharing those beliefs, that is not only interfering in our election, but taking our right to freedom of speech away. How many times have you heard Trump supporters be called domestic terrorists, or that if he gets elected its the end of our freedom and our country, and this information gets spread through social media. How big of an effect is that going to have on our election. People today are afraid to express how they really feel because of the backlash it can cause. I know many people, including myself, who have gotten off social media because of the constant attacks over political debates, and many times these attacks are from people who only have part of the story. I have watched media outlets share stories that are completely inaccurate by only taking part of a statement made and changing the entire context of that statement, only to later see that story posted all over social media.
Many people today get a majority of their information primarily on social media. Once a story is spread through social media people will believe it to be true, whether it is or not. By attempting to restrict the content citizens are putting on social media is taking away our freedom of speech. By calling Trump supporters detrimental to our society because of Trump’s beliefs, any supporters of Trump who express their beliefs are ridiculed and attacked. When people are afraid to express their views because of attacks they may receive based on what our government is saying about those beliefs, you not only interfering in the election, but blocking out free speech. If people are afraid to speak how they feel then they no longer have free speech. That is the society we are starting to live and that is what these attempts the government has made to control the content on social media has caused.