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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: JAN 6: SOCIAL MEDIA(TV)
HEADLINE: A Year After Booting Trump, Social Media Companies Face More Challenges Over Elections TEASER: Trump’s ban from Facebook is expected to lift January 2023, after the U.S. mid-term elections
PUBLISHED AT: 12/27/21 at 1:28 p.m.
BYLINE: Michelle Quinn
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE:
VIDEOGRAPHER: Deana Mitchell
PRODUCER: Matt Dibble
SCRIPT EDITORS: Barry Newhouse, Mia Bush
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA original,Zoom, AFP, Reuters, Storyblocks, House Energy and Commerce Committee
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO _X_
TRT: 3:07
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES:
((INTRO: ))
[[For U.S. social media companies, the violent mob storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6 last year spurred action. They shut down then-President Donald Trump’s accounts. One year later, are Facebook, Twitter and YouTube any better prepared to face similar situations in the U.S. or in other countries? Michelle Quinn reports.]]
((NARRATOR))
((B-ROLL: rioters storm capitol, FB screen ”response”, Twitter “suspension”, YouTube Trump page))
One year after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol, the former president is still not permitted to use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, the digital stages where he directly spoke to millions of followers.
((Donald Trump, Former President)) ((IN UPPER RIGHT: FILE – July 7, 2021)) ((Source: AFP))
"It's not a fair situation, very, very bad for this country, very bad for the world. If they can do it to me, they can do it to anyone." [[RADIO: Emerson Brooking is a research fellow at the Atlantic Council. He spoke to VOA over Zoom.]]
((Emerson Brooking, Atlantic Council)) ((Courtesy: Zoom))
“January 6 was certainly a moment of reckoning for the social media platforms.”
((NARRATOR)) ((B-ROLL: FB page with Jan 6 ad, zoom out Twitter sign, Facebook sign))
Trump was accused of using the platforms to stoke the riot. His suspension is a stark reminder of the power social media companies have over political leaders who run afoul of their rules.
((NARRATOR)) ((B-ROLL: wide hearing room, F Haugen speaks, 3 shots protest art in front of capitol))
But despite the ban, after January 6, social media companies came under intense fire from critics who said the suspension was too late, coming years after tolerating Trump’s violations of the companies’ rules.
((NARRATOR)) ((Courtesy: House Energy and Commerce Committee))
For their part, technology companies have said they are constantly working to make their services safer. Twitter's former CEO said at a congressional hearing that Twitter did bear some responsibility for disseminating disinformation that led to January 6 but pointed to the larger culture.
((Jack Dorsey)) ((Former Twitter CEO)) ((Courtesy: House Energy and Commerce Committee))
“You also have to take into consideration the broader ecosystem. It’s not just about the technology platforms that we use.”
((NARRATOR))
There have been some changes. Twitter enacted a five-strike policy on misinformation about COVID-19. Facebook now applies its content moderation rules to politicians, a group it had shielded in the past. But the changes strike some experts as small.
[[Katie Harbath is a former Facebook public policy director who now works as a consultant on technology and democracy. She spoke to VOA over Zoom.]]
((Katie Harbath, Former Facebook Executive)) ((Courtesy: Zoom))
“Whether or not they've actually changed, how they think about their products and their algorithms, and the core business models? That I think is less so, that I think is, they still continue to play a bit of whack a mole.”
((NARRATOR))
Looking out to elections this year the potential remains that social media could lead to more unrest, observers say.
((Katie Harbath, Former Facebook Executive)) ((Courtesy: Zoom)) “You really need to start planning now for all those things. And I haven't necessarily seen what I would like to see from the companies around what they're doing.’”
((NARRATOR))
Some critics point to the companies’ way of making money — advertising — and how the firms have created algorithms that highlight extreme content that is more engaging.
[[FOR RADIO: Jesse Lehrich is the co-founder of Accountable Tech, an advocacy group. He spoke to VOA over Zoom.]]
((Jesse Lehrich, Accountable Tech)) ((Courtesy: Zoom))
“A lot of these platforms have made tweaks around the edges. But at the end of the day, it’s about the business model. …these platforms are fundamentally designed to elevate, amplify, proliferate the most problematic things on the platform, things like election lies, racial violence.”
((NARRATOR))
Whistleblower leaks said Facebook showed how some of these problems are familiar to company executives. In the coming year, lawmakers could try to force the companies to make bigger changes to policing controversial content and being more transparent about what they are doing.
((Michelle Quinn, VOA NEWS))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
Topic TagsSocial Media
January 6
Jan 6
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateDecember 27, 2021 14:53 EST
Brand / Language ServiceUS Agency for Global Media
