{"id":62561,"date":"2024-10-21T08:00:56","date_gmt":"2024-10-21T12:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businessesgrow.com\/?p=62561"},"modified":"2024-10-21T08:00:56","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T12:00:56","slug":"amplification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businessesgrow.com\/2024\/10\/21\/amplification\/","title":{"rendered":"The biggest threat to free speech and democracy isn’t speech, it’s amplification"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"amplification\"<\/p>\n

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The other day I checked in on Twitter (Still can’t bring myself to say X) and saw this tweet:<\/p>\n

\"free<\/p>\n

About a year ago, Twitter started injecting tweets into my “notifications” stream from people I don’t follow. So, I don’t know Faith Back Rub. Never heard of the account before. And yet, Twitter’s algorithm somehow thought this was one of the most important things for me to see that day.<\/p>\n

The message I received was “a famous American football player slammed a presidential candidate.” And then I went on to something more interesting in my busy day.<\/p>\n

But then I thought about it a little more: this celebrity American football player is usually non-political. He makes millions in product endorsements and podcast sponsorships. This statement seems uncharacteristic. So I went back to the tweet and clicked on the actual Kelce message:<\/p>\n

\"Kelce<\/p>\n

Now my reaction was — well, this is a verified account. Looks like Travis Kelce really did take a clever swipe at Trump. Surprising. But what is this “Parody by Rub” thing in the corner? Is this real or not? Now, I had to dig to figure out what was going on. And here’s the truth:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This did not come from Travis Kelce, but how would I obviously know that? Remember how this showed up in my news feed: There was no indication that this was fake news<\/em><\/strong> when it was displayed to me. I read the headline and moved on.<\/p>\n

As it turns out, most people who clicked through were fooled by this tweet, even though it was identified as a “parody.” I know this because there were nearly 1,000 comments on this tweet, most of them Trump supporters blasting Travis Kelce — who had nothing to do with this opinion.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

And this is the true problem with social media. The threat to our society doesn’t necessarily come from what people say, it comes from algorithms amplifying disinformation.<\/p>\n

The implication of amplification<\/h2>\n

Everybody has a right to say what they want to say, even if it’s incorrect or controversial. When the American Founding Fathers drafted the Constitution, even the most powerful and compelling voice back then could only hope that somebody would read their pamphlet or hear a speech. Information spread slowly, and mostly, locally. Even a juicy conspiracy theory couldn’t get nationwide attention very easily.<\/p>\n

But today, damaging content can spread instantly and globally. And that puts a new spin on the issue of free speech.<\/p>\n

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes famously said there is a limit on free speech: “You can’t yell ‘fire’ (with no fire) in a crowded theater.” But today, anybody can yell fire, and it can impact the opinions of hundreds, thousands or even millions of people. Amplification matters. Amplication is the threat. Why isn’t anybody taking responsibility for this?<\/p>\n

Social media companies must be accountable<\/h2>\n

Let’s think through the case study I presented today.<\/p>\n