(ir) GAFA managers

Greg Taieb · · 2 min read

The suspension and then banning of Trump's accounts on social networks made me think a lot about the role and powers of the GAFA. 

I have of course not discovered the power of the tech giants this week but I think we have crossed several white lines which risk serving as markers for the future.

So here are some loose thoughts that I wanted to share with you.

The taste of water…

To say that Donald Trump has been bullshitting on social media for the past 4 years is an understatement. Between lies, insults and conspiracy theories, he never stopped adding fuel to the fire. In May 2020, tension escalatedwhen Twitter began reporting some of his tweets as inciting violence. Since then, the number of tweets reported has risen to 471 according to Factba.se.
Without ever any suspension…
And even after the attempted insurrection against the Capitol, his account was only temporarily suspended. It was ultimately his last 2 tweets (including the one announcing that he would not attend the inauguration) which motivated the permanent suspension of the account. Clearly not his 2 most virulent publications.
The question I asked myself is: why so late?

Not too risky timing

15 days before the end of his mandate, it has never been less risky for the GAFA to alienate the president. By cutting off his main communications media, the risk of reprisals is zero.

The snowball effect

After late sanctions, we saw an avalanche of bans following Twitter's position.
Facebook, Instagram, Twitch and even the Shopify platform (updated list here) have in turn been deactivated (I thus discovered the existence of the term “deplatformer”). No one wanted to be the first to ban but as soon as a platform emerged, it became untenable for others not to follow. A certain definition of courage.

Double standards

I have no problem with the banning of Trump's account and I even think it came too late. But why not also ban accounts of personalities who directly make incitement to murder? 

This suspension should be the starting point for new clear rules for “VIP” accounts which benefit from “flexibility” in respecting the T&Cs which raises more and more questions.

If you wish to delve deeper into the subject, I recommend Florence G’sell’s very comprehensive thread on the subject.