Meta has long been in the public eye for its unequal distribution of information and creating echo chambers. This is not limited to political campaigns but also extends to geopolitical situations. Just a few years ago when Trump was elected, the wave of allegations including “Russian hijacked elections” and “fake elections” became common. For the first time, data scientists along with political experts jumped into teach world to understand the algorithm and its functionality.
While this explained a lot about how Facebook ads work, it also raised many questions. Regardless of which side you pick, one thing was evident, the algorithm decides what you see and content when endorsed has no shelf life. Moreover, this also explained that as long as you have a smart device and access to a solid internet connection, you could do anything.
Now that affordable, fast-speed internet has become quite accessible, and companies like Xifnity are offering it to anyone, sharing an online opinion is much easier. Companies like Xfinity also offer a dedicated Xfinity customer service phone number that is open 24/7, so users can get an instant solution for their tech problems.
Meta Decides To Limit the Reach of Political Content
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Now that elections are coming close, Meta has openly admitted that they will be moving away from organic political news. While for some, this might seem like a big relief and a ray of hope, others see this in a different light. One of the major things to consider here is that Meta is not thinking about the complete filtration of political news, instead they are looking for only limiting the organic reach. As long as you are willing to boost the content, and pay for the endorsement, you will be sorted.
Geopolitical analysts think that there is a hidden meaning behind this idea and it is a carefully orchestrated system that will blindside a whole generation. Analysts believe that this is not meant to prefer entertainment to politics but rather it is a way of saying that social media is controlled by people who are willing to pay. You can still opt in for the political news if you like but there is a very strong mediator and censorship involved.
While for most people, this is mainly related to US elections only, there is a much darker side that has its ties to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. Currently, the deadliest war going on in the world, where one child dies every 10 minutes and leaves millions of orphans. Experts think it is another effort to restrict the truth from leaking through already very restricted Meta chambers. Within just a few months, the horrifying stats backed by footage and videos have not just shifted public opinion, but it has also gained a lot of attention from people globally.
Although Meta is letting people, choose if they want to limit the political content most people are not aware of the trends and politics rolling out every day. This means that in the next few months, billions of Meta users will experience a shift in the political news spread while they will stay unaware of the opt-in or limit setting.
Verified Comment Feature Launched By Meta
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Political censorship is not just limited to the content and content creator but also extends to comments. Just a few months ago, people would hijack paid campaigns but bombarding each post with hashtags, stories, comments, and videos.
This is not just linked with political campaigns or political content but also extends to paid media campaigns run by businesses. For instance, brands associated with Israel did not just face backlash but also were boycotted globally by millions of customers costing them a few billions in revenue and profit. To pull up their profit, these brands shifted to paid social media campaigns. However, these paid campaigns were not just reported but also hijacked by viewers via hashtags, comments, and awareness-based videos.
To curb this issue, Facebook has now rolled out a comment filter option. This will help the paid accounts to easily filter out the verified comments mentioned by Meta while avoiding other comments. However, it seems that verified comments are an option filter, which can help users filter out the comments related to their posts. On the contrary, it will not help people who are not paying any subscription, or they are not verified yet.
Final Thoughts
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The world of social media is changing at an alarming rate. While social media emerged as a flagbearer of freedom of speech, it is now slowly fixing its grip on censorship. More people are thinking that these features rolled out by Meta might look like the start of something great, but there is a high chance that it can eventually lead to the same malpractices that most media channels are known for.
What do you make of this feature? We’d love to hear your thoughts on this.
