[Content Warning: discusses self harm and harm] The attack on and through social media (1,287 words; 4 - 7 minute read)

For anyone distressed by this article, or for any other reason considering seeking support, resources are available in Australia here, here, and here. In other nations, you will have to do an Internet search using terms such as “mental health support - <your nation>”. 

One of the major stories of the last few months has been a US billionaire’s purchase of a social media platform, and the changes that have happened since then, which are largely seen as a reversal of recent changes towards safer online spaces towards that person’s version of “free speech”. [See Notes 1 - 10 inclusive listed below] 

More recently, this has included the removal, and subsequent reinstatement of, a suicide prevention feature. See https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/dec/23/elon-musk-orders-twitter-to-remove-suicide-prevention-feature and https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/dec/24/twitter-restores-suicide-prevention-feature. 

The billionaire claimed that the feature was always intended to go back: is that real? I don’t know, but I do consider that the way that was handled increased risks of harm from online interactions - more on that shortly. 

What I can state from my personal experience is: 

• there does seem to be more hateful commentary on the social media platform; 
• I have seen more instances of “challenging speech” on other platforms as well - although in all cases people are standing up to those, but I have noticed people reporting and demonstrating emboldened bigotry elsewhere as well;
• the newer commentary I am seeing is not always clearly hate - for instance, one of my newer followers on Medium is clearly a fan on the billionaire who I have chosen not to name, but the content of some of their articles includes some points that are worth considering. My concern with the articles is more that they have been written aggressively - it is like an immature adult throwing a tantrum (perhaps at impatience over rate of change being slower than the immature adult wants) but saying some truths in the midst of that: no matter how valid and important the points, the delivery means much of it will be ignored so publishing the article is ultimately counter-productive.
  

I have always blocked or muted, and sometimes reported, people and/or specific posts. However, my last two reports were not accepted: I can appeal that, but doubt it is worth the expenditure of my time & energy - especially for a dying platform. 

So ... I have largely gone elsewhere for my social media interactions now. 

And that is a point which crops up in many fields: damaging your credibility to the extent that people do not consider engaging to be of any value, and just leave - whether it is people not going back to a store because they were dissatisfied with how a complaint was responded to, people deciding the Press Council is a waste of time and space, people resigning “unexpectedly” from a company (and they will be unlikely to consider leaving any honest feedback in exit interviews - that is a warning to management of being out of touch), or people quietly leaving a social media platform and going elsewhere. 

Now, I mention the risk of online harm. As a reminder on that, consider the following links listed below in Notes 11 - 24 inclusive. 

Now, there are also acts of hate in other areas of life, and in other forms. That is irrelevant to this discussion: you don’t ignore a smaller but still significant fire simply because there is a bigger fire over in the next valley: you have to fight both.

One key point, however, is that what is happening is showing that this was bubbling away undetected. 

As the great Dr Martin Luther King Jr said: “It may be true that the law cannot change the heart, but it can restrain the heartless.”

We need anti-discrimination, anti-hate speech, etc laws and positive action to curtail harm - but, after that, we need to address the psychological damage that enables people to hate, which is something I touched on in my previous post here, for instance.

As things are now, that psychological damage is not being dealt with - nor was it before. 

And in dealing with that damage, we have to understand that such actions are competing against millennia - possibly tens, but certainly at least two (particularly during the era of colonialism and during and since the Industrial Revolution) - of social engineering: and one of the active fields of combat against the ubiquitous, endemic and unnoticed social engineering is the arena known as “social media”.

And that is one reason I have chosen not to name the billionaire at the centre of recent events (although his name is in the links): the issues are much broader than just that person, no matter how damaging their actions are. 

 

PS - see also this: https://judedoyle.medium.com/hear-me-out-we-dont-need-a-new-twitter-ad02ec9dd845

Notes: 

1. The Guardian, 25^th December, 2022: “Is Elon Musk going to turn into the same sort of joke that Trump has become?”; 
2. The Globe and Mail, 22^nd December, 2022: “Here’s how Twitter has changed since Elon Musk took over as CEO”;
3. Social Media Today, 19^th December, 2022: “A Look at All the Changes Implemented by Elon Musk at Twitter in his Time as Chief Twit”; 
4. CNN Business, 18^th December, 2022: “Elon Musk says Twitter will ban some links to other social media sites, sparking backlash”;  
5. Reuters, 18^th November, 2022: “Factbox: Twitter 2.0: Musk warns of bankruptcy, flip-flops on blue check mark in chaotic start”;
6. Gulf News, 7^th November, 2022: “Factbox: Twitter 2.0: Musk warns of bankruptcy, flip-flops on blue check mark in chaotic start” (appears to be an earlier version of the Reuters Factbox);
7. The Guardian, 4^th November, 2022: “What changes has Elon Musk made at Twitter and what might he do next?”; 
8. Inquirer.net, 31^stOctober, 2022: “What Changes Did Elon Musk Make To Twitter? [Updated]”;
   
9. Hypefury, undated: “The changes Elon Musk is making to Twitter”;
10. Fast Company, undated, probably early September, 2022: “A week of Musk mayhem: Here are all the Twitter changes since Elon took over”;
11. Microsoft, 10^th November, 2016: “Online risks have real-world consequences, new Microsoft research shows”;
12. eSafety Commissioner (Australia), undated: “What is online abuse?”;
13. eSafety Commissioner (Australia), undated: “What is online hate?”;
14. Internet Matters, undated: “Index of online harms”;
15. Australian Government, undated: “Online harms & safety”;
16. Australian Government, undated: “Regulation of Australian online content: cybersafety and harm”;
17. Linklater, undated: “Online harms: a comparative analysis”;
18. Forbes, 28^th February, 2017: “Online Risks Are Everyday Events for Teens - But They Rarely Tell Their Parents”;
19. Bravehearts, undated: “Online risks, child exploitation & grooming”;
20. Safer Schools UK, 28^th January, 2022: “Online Safety Trends, Risks, and Threats for 2022”;
21. Huffington Post, 20^th June, 2017: “Guilty of Manslaughter: Suicide by Bullying”; 
22. reports of death by suicide here, here, here, and here;
    
23. Psychology Today, 5^th February, 2019: “Does Bullying Cause Suicide? Explaining the complex relationship between bullying and suicide”;
24. Very Well Family, 25th July, 2022: “How Strong Is the Link Between Bullying and Suicide?”.
    

Assumptions / basis 

In writing this, I have assumed / started from the following: 

• personal responsibility is incumbent on people first not being manipulated or influenced unreasonably;
• duty of care exists.
  

Possible flaws 

Where I can, I will try to highlight possible flaws / issues you should consider:

• there may be flawed logical arguments in the above: to find out more about such flaws and thinking generally, I recommend to Brendan  Myers’ free online course “Clear and Present Thinking”; 
  
• I could be wrong - so keep your thinking caps on, and make up your own minds for yourself.
  

 

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Finally, remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing.