Breaking the closet The effects of the dramatization of sexuality in the entertainment industry

RIA DUBEY, OPINONS EDITOR

Billionaire Elon Musk’s recent acquisition of Twitter and subsequent changes in the company (such as adding charges for the verification badges) have caused an uproar in the Twitterverse. This is seen particularly among avid users who have accused Musk of stripping them of their right to free speech. However, what we really should be questioning is: did we ever really have free speech on social media? The answer is no. Social networking sites like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are privately owned and operated, and stipulations like the ones Musk put in place at Twitter have been happening for years. The only difference this time is that we are finally becoming aware of them.

The perfect example of the numerous subtle forms of censorship on social media is when Instagram announced its goal of ‘reducing hate speech’ in 2017. They stated that they were planning on using an algorithm to filter through posts and remove ones with any forms of hate speech, and accounts that are deemed more likely to use such speech are shown lower on people’s feeds. At first glance, this seems like a perfectly innocent and even positive announcement to make. However, filtering algorithms such as this one are known for being more restrictive toward marginalized communities, and rather than encouraging people to express themselves, it seems to restrict them instead. People have invented what is essentially a new language in order to overcome barriers set by companies. Words are no longer formed by just letters but symbols as well. Lesbian became le$bean, suicide became su!c!de, dead became unalive – the list goes on. People may not have realized it, but they were censored by social media companies for much longer than the few weeks it has been since Musk’s takeover.

Of course, even though this has been going on for years longer than most people realize, Twitter’s recent hand-off does not bode well for the future of what little free speech is left on social media. One might think since now we’re aware of and protesting it, censorship would decrease. Unfortunately, life rarely works that simply. People being aware of the censorship simply means that tech companies are also aware of the power they hold as the main mode of communication these days, and they are becoming bolder as they continue to wield this power. They know that their power has amassed to the point that election campaigns can be held through platforms like Twitter, and they are exploiting it to the fullest. The best we can hope for is for the entire user population of one of these apps to suddenly leave, and maybe then there will be a slight dent in the system. Still, we all know how unlikely the chances of that happening are. Thus, the cycle continues: people realize something is wrong, companies release a statement about it, everyone forgets about it because it’s gone from their social media feed, and the injustice continues.