US: Study Finds Strict Moderation and Censorship by Social Media Giants Creates Even More Dangerous Extremism

The strict content moderation and censorship policies of major social media platforms are making people more isolated and polarized, creating even more dangerous extremism in society, a new study shows.

Tech giants such as Facebook, Twitter and Google are facing all-time highs in hate speech and misinformation, with such content increasing twentyfold between 2017 and 2021 on Facebook, suggesting that the approach of censorship isn’t working, according to new research by race relations expert Daryl Davis and free speech activist and CEO of crypto social network Minds, Bill Ottman.

The study, which was edited by Dr Nafees Hamid, senior researcher on radicalization at King’s College London, among other academics, examined the effects of restricting extremist content on large-scale social media platforms by examining the behavior of extremist groups, including white supremacists, neo-Nazis and Muslim extremists.

“When you deny people the chance to voice opinions and go down the cancel culture route, data shows you’re sending them to nefarious platforms where much worse behavior occurs,” Ottman told the Washington Examiner. .

“People who are excluded will simply settle in a place where an echo chamber reinforces their beliefs, which leads to shootings in synagogues and mosques and what happened in Charlottesville,” a- he added.

He adds that the rampant censorship and blocking of people on social media has pushed more people to become “lone wolves”, which has directly led to an increase in radicalisation.

The study also showed that censorship does not reduce hate speech or misinformation that incites violence, but only moves it to other corners of the internet.

“When platforms like Facebook or Twitter limit hateful conversations and censor controversial content, that just moves them elsewhere. Big Tech says censorship works, but in reality it just hides the problem,” Davis said.

Major tech platforms such as Spotify, Airbnb and GoFundMe have also increased bans and censorship due to public criticism.

Facebook and other social media platforms have regularly justified stricter content moderation and censorship by citing internal surveys showing that users dislike certain controversial content, including divisive political speech.

Davis and Ottman said that while they understand the difficult position in which social media platforms are placed to moderate large amounts of content to satisfy a diverse community of users, they expect more transparency from companies.

“We’re not trying to bring down the big tech platforms, we just want them to back up their content moderation policies with research and data,” Ottman said.

Ottman concluded by saying that “we feel our research further supports a First Amendment-based content moderation policy, with more freedom of speech, which in the long run, over time, would lead to less radicalization and violence.”

Washington Examine