Bubble, Bubble, Toil And Social Media

Michael Hedges September 30, 2021 Follow on Twitter

Troublesome is an apt description of social media platforms. They are big, popular, rich and powerful. How to reign them in? Or should they be reigned in? These are the questions that try mens' souls.

Big TV news channel CNN disabled its Australian Facebook pages, it said (September 29). No longer will it post material, seen around the world, to Australian Facebook users. Behind this is a Australian High Court decision making media companies legally liable for comments users add to pages CNN - or any other outlet - posts.

CNN had asked Facebook to provide a page-wide solution, removing comments added to Australian pages. Facebook only offered a post by post remedy. The High Court decision found several Australian media outlets liable for defamation claims from a youth detention detainee that his rights were violated by false acquisitions made in comments to pages published through Facebook pages. “The acts of the appellants in facilitating, encouraging and thereby assisting the posting of comments by the third-party Facebook users rendered them publishers of those comments,” said the High Court, Australia’s court of last resort. Hence, CNN removed itself from Facebook in Australia. (See more about social media here)

Similarly, in a way, Russia’s hardworking, ubiquitous media regulator/censor Roskomnadzor threatened social video sharing portal YouTube, subsidiary of Google, subsidiary of Alphabet with a big fine and possibly other nasty things, reported euronews (September 29), for deleting two German-language channels of Russian state propaganda broadcaster RT, formerly known as Russia Today. According to YouTube/Google/Alphabet the German-language RT channels “consistently” breached stated policies on coronavirus and vaccine misinformation. The Russian Foreign Ministry, without irony, howled about “information war” and promised “retaliatory measures.” YouTube/Google/Alphabet has legions of lawyers experienced with Russian affairs but, as far as we know, no nukes.

“Anyone who calls for such retaliation...doesn't show a good relationship with press freedom, from our point of view," said German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Steffen Seibert. “The German government, or representatives of the German government, have nothing to do with this decision. Anyone who alleges that is putting together a conspiracy theory,” an apt description. RT has sought terrestrial television licenses in Germany without success. (See more about disinformation here)

Taking the pragmatic approach, social media portal LinkedIn, owned by Microsoft, is blocking profiles of journalists in China, including Axios writer Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian. And she wrote about it on Axios (September 30). Profiles of several US journalists were blocked, LinkedIn citing “prohibited content,” she wrote. The company said they would “work with her” to “update the summary section” of her profile, whatever that means. (See more about censorship here)

“We’re a global platform that respects the laws that apply to us, including adhering to Chinese government regulations for our localized version of LinkedIn in China. For members whose profile visibility is limited within China,” said a LinkedIn spokesperson to Hong Kong Free Press (September 30) “Their profiles are still visible across the rest of the globe where LinkedIn is available.” Six months ago Microsoft was “punished” by Chinese authorities for “objectionable political content” on LinkedIn, which is one of very few Western social media portals allowed to operate in China.

See also...

• Hot Topics - Social Media

• Hot Topics - Disinformation

• Hot Topics - Censorship

• Hot Topics - YouTube/Google/Alphabet

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