The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Opinion Let’s make social media fair and balanced

(Tara Jacoby for The Washington Post)

It seems the social Internet is going to be made fair whether we wish it to be or not. Moderating speech on social media platforms seemed like a complicated issue, but it was not too difficult for President Trump. What kind of content goes too far? Is it when you accuse someone of murder? Is it when you spread misinformation about election fraud? Is it when you share a threatening video?

No. It is when Twitter tentatively suggests that maybe the information you have shared about voting is bad information, although who, really, can be sure!

“Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices. We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen. We saw what they attempted to do, and failed, in 2016. We can’t let a more sophisticated version of that . . . happen again.” Trump warned Wednesday on Twitter.

Broadly speaking, the fact that people are allowed to say that bad things about the president are “true” and that good things about him are “false” is a sign of the notable bias that so needs correction. And now at long last, there is going to be an executive order doing something about it. For more specific complaints Trump and his fellow conservatives now hope will be answered, see below.

  • Please have the Federal Trade Commission look into why social media didn’t suppress the six videos from my latest hearing saying I was OWNED but did suppress all the probably multiple ones that say I did the owning??
  • Remove all the photographic proof of my low rally attendance that shows an empty field with an old man in it facing the wrong way; this is not an accurate picture of what happened, and in the name of fairness, you should release all the posts you have been suppressing that say people went to the rally and loved it and cheered together with a single voice and will someday share it with their families as a cherished moment.
  • Six people commented on my Profile Picture saying I looked like someone put googly eyes on a bag of ranch dressing and all the NUMEROUS positive comments saying I was a strong-jawed American were Erased due to social media bias and censorship or I certainly cannot think of any other reason they never appeared in my feed.
  • It is Twitter’s responsibility to create a pro-Nunes cow and give it equal time.
  • Millions of people have shared posts full of misinformation and propaganda. But only millions! There are billions of Facebook users; I think we can do better.
  • The first thing that comes up when you Google me should not be the four separate times I was confused and appeared at a gathering of supporters of a vile cause and shouted, “I understand why I am here, and I support everything that everyone has said,” as I have later made it very clear this was a misunderstanding. To continue to show this result is bias.
  • Google should not tell people to go to the polls because when people go to the polls they almost always prefer my opponent, which is a violation of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
  • I posted an image of myself “living my best life” holding farm-fresh produce in both hands, but it only got seven Likes.
  • As long as we are at it, I think my Dating Profile is being secreted away from many eligible ladies by what can only be an instance of actual malice. Please remove the Block so that I may access the women who are my just deserts.
  • There should be more footage online of my children looking pleased and proud to be associated with me instead of not.
  • There are many posts from doctors, scientists, and bleach companies saying that my advice is “bad medicine” and “deadly.” Yet there are no posts from doctors saying I am right and so good at medicine that it made them cry and throw their stethoscopes into the sea! This is a clear sign of bias. Release the posts.
  • Please stop flagging all my posts as “not based in fact," “weird, violent threats,” and “misspelled past the point of being intelligible.” I am the president of the United States.
  • The white supremacist content is fine.

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