In October, Facebook came under scrutiny for its claims that it would allow false
advertisements about Joe Biden and his son to be run by the Trump re-election campaign. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, was grilled in Congress Oct. 23 for his supposed support of this kind of “freedom of speech.”
Jack Dorsey, Twitter CEO, recently announced in the midst of Facebook’s controversies that his platform wouldn’t run political ads anymore, although it is unclear how thorough its fact-checking will actually be. Regardless, Facebook should do the same. Traditionally, the media represents the fulfillment of the First Amendment—we have the freedom to say, publish and receive what we want.
However, the system Facebook propagates does not promote that at all. In fact, it suppresses it.
This goes deeper than Facebook. It all goes back to the formation of super PACs, and lobbying, and all the threats to our democracy.
As a society, we can’t just see freedom of speech as just allowing everyone’s voice to be heard. That is the mentality that allows big money to take over our lives. From the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which allowed anyone to enter the communications business, America saw what happens when companies are allowed free rein. Diversity withers and monopolies prosper.
Instead, we must look at the bigger picture of why we have the First Amendment: to promote a plurality of expressions. Zuckerberg says he promotes freedom of speech for all Americans. But by allowing fake ads, fake news and anybody to say anything they want, he only funnels Americans into a media vacuum, where instead of spreading more diverse ideas, we get echo-chambered propaganda.
On the other side of the coin, Zuckerberg has somewhat of a point. America is deathly afraid of a media-filtered world with gasp censorship. Of course, that too encroaches upon the First Amendment. Zuckerberg plays it as a fierce tug-of-war between a world of unlimited political propaganda and a ultra-filtered, censored one, and comes out on the side of the former. Facebook isn’t an anomaly, either.
American media is increasingly turning to easy profits and a focus on rights rather than responsibilities. But reality doesn’t have to be so black and white. There is a middle ground, and that exists in civic responsibility. If Facebook doesn’t want the responsibility of fact-checking, they shouldn’t have it; they should just not run political ads.
But more importantly, on a larger scale, we must come to terms with the new limits of the First Amendment. With media so widely available and pliant, allowing anyone to say anything won’t do our democracy any good.
We have to look back to its roots, to the reason why we have it: to protect a real diversity of opinions.
