01-10-2021, 09:06 AM
Tech Tent: Did social media inspire Congress riot?
![[Image: _116400321_tt_epa_capitol.jpg]](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/300C/production/_116400321_tt_epa_capitol.jpg)
It was the most violent assault on the US Capitol since the British Army set it ablaze in the war of 1814.
This week's Tech Tent asks what role social media played in preparing the ground for the riots which saw Donald Trump's supporters
storm Congress.
The BBC's disinformation specialist, Marianna Spring, told the programme that the roots of the anger on display amongst Trump supporters
can be traced back to before the presidential election.
"President Trump, on his own Twitter feed, amplified and suggested that this election was going to be rigged, that there was going to be
fraudulent voting," she said.
Then, after the election, she saw lots of Facebook groups spring up using the term "stop the steal", echoing Trump's own language.
Group think
Facebook removed many of the groups, but by then the damage was done - just as it was with the social media giant's belated move to
remove content about the QAnon conspiracy theory.
"When the roots of these conspiracies are so deep, it comes as little surprise that the threats continued, the disinformation continued,"
Spring said.
"A lot of people who attended Capitol Hill felt so passionate about this - and really genuinely believed these false claims spreading online
about voter fraud."
Disinformation researcher Dr Alexi Drew, of King's College London, said this "is something that a lot of us have been saying has been a real
risk for quite some time".
TV still has power
The question is what happens next. You might think that with both Democrats and Republicans extremely critical of social media, tighter
regulation is a surefire bet under the Biden administration.
But what that will look like remains to be seen.
Will it, for instance, involve the repeal of section 230, which protects online platforms from legal action over user comments?
The danger is that tighter rules will be more expensive for tech companies - which could just reinforce the dominance of the existing wealthy
players, shutting out newcomers.
And is it even clear that social media bears most of the responsibility for spreading the lies and hatred that led to the assault on the Capitol?
Remember, Fox News, talk radio stations and more recently TV channels such as OANN and NewsMax have fed their audiences
a Trump-shaped view of the world for a long time.
Read daily news here. : คุณสมบัติที่ดี ของผู้เล่น SLOT ONLINE เกมทำเงินได้จริง
![[Image: _116400321_tt_epa_capitol.jpg]](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/300C/production/_116400321_tt_epa_capitol.jpg)
It was the most violent assault on the US Capitol since the British Army set it ablaze in the war of 1814.
This week's Tech Tent asks what role social media played in preparing the ground for the riots which saw Donald Trump's supporters
storm Congress.
The BBC's disinformation specialist, Marianna Spring, told the programme that the roots of the anger on display amongst Trump supporters
can be traced back to before the presidential election.
"President Trump, on his own Twitter feed, amplified and suggested that this election was going to be rigged, that there was going to be
fraudulent voting," she said.
Then, after the election, she saw lots of Facebook groups spring up using the term "stop the steal", echoing Trump's own language.
Group think
Facebook removed many of the groups, but by then the damage was done - just as it was with the social media giant's belated move to
remove content about the QAnon conspiracy theory.
"When the roots of these conspiracies are so deep, it comes as little surprise that the threats continued, the disinformation continued,"
Spring said.
"A lot of people who attended Capitol Hill felt so passionate about this - and really genuinely believed these false claims spreading online
about voter fraud."
Disinformation researcher Dr Alexi Drew, of King's College London, said this "is something that a lot of us have been saying has been a real
risk for quite some time".
TV still has power
The question is what happens next. You might think that with both Democrats and Republicans extremely critical of social media, tighter
regulation is a surefire bet under the Biden administration.
But what that will look like remains to be seen.
Will it, for instance, involve the repeal of section 230, which protects online platforms from legal action over user comments?
The danger is that tighter rules will be more expensive for tech companies - which could just reinforce the dominance of the existing wealthy
players, shutting out newcomers.
And is it even clear that social media bears most of the responsibility for spreading the lies and hatred that led to the assault on the Capitol?
Remember, Fox News, talk radio stations and more recently TV channels such as OANN and NewsMax have fed their audiences
a Trump-shaped view of the world for a long time.
Read daily news here. : คุณสมบัติที่ดี ของผู้เล่น SLOT ONLINE เกมทำเงินได้จริง