Competitors, critics, and netizens alike have called out Meta for its censorship policies on the recently-launched social media platform, Threads. The platform was launched on 6th of July as a competitor to Twitter.
Owner and CTO of Twitter, Elon Musk has already threatened to sue Meta for infringing Twitter’s intellectual property after the launch of Threads.
Now, a Twitter user DogeDesigner @cb_doge has called out Meta for “trying to control whom you follow”. The user shared an image of Threads showing how when he wanted to follow user Donald Trump Jr, he was asked, “Are you sure you want to follow donaldjtrumpjr?”.
The censorship on Meta's new app is insane. They even want to control whom you follow. pic.twitter.com/jHmwf4gHHt
— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) July 9, 2023
The alert further read, “This account has repeatedly posted false information that was reviewed by independent fact-checkers or went against our Community Guidelines.” Elon Musk replied to the post with exclamation marks.
Another user named Ruge @EhaRouge who replied to the post said their Threads account is already flagged.
I'm already flagged pic.twitter.com/AVWmWN1Un6
— RUGE 🇭🇹 (@EhaRouge) July 10, 2023
The warning was tweeted by Donald Trump Jr saying, “Threads not exactly off to a great start.”
On 7 July, Republicans and right-wing politicians in the United States called out Meta for censoring conservative voices. Another right-wing user was banned immediately after he posted his first message on Threads criticising the Biden government.
Another popular social media account called “Libs of TikTok” was reportedly banned for alleged “hate speech”. A screenshot of the same was shared by the page on Twitter.
Stating facts is “hate speech” on Threads pic.twitter.com/8riRCTNhCv
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 7, 2023
On 7th July, Twitter’s legal team wrote a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stating, “Twitter has substantial concerns that Meta Platforms has engaged in systematic, deliberate, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property.”
They alleged that Meta hired dozens of former Twitter employees who still have access to Twitter’s trade secrets and other confidential information.
Netizens, experts flag privacy and censorship issues with Threads
Some reports have termed Threads a “privacy nightmare” for its “ability to collect highly sensitive information about users in order to profile their digital activity”.
Last week, the European Union’s Court of Justice reportedly observed that “consent is the only appropriate legal basis for tracking and profiling-driven personalised content and behavioural advertising, which is Meta’s key source of money.
Back in December 2021, Facebook admitted that the “fact checks” used to police what the people of the United States read and watch was just “opinions”. The admission by the social media giant came during the hearing of a lawsuit brought by celebrated journalist John Stossel that exposed the unreal battle against alleged “misinformation” by the left-liberals.
