Good morning.
There have always been consequences in media for getting things wrong, from lawsuits and reputational damage to jail time and fines that can gut a business. You can be right and still get targeted. Just ask the Committee to Protect Journalists. Now, social media platforms are dealing with those issues. What’s different and disturbing is how many governments are aiming to essentially shut them down.
As Elon Musk justifiably rages against (but complies with) Brazil’s decision to block X, he’s also taking a watchdog group to trial for defamation in the U.S. over a report it issued that claimed X showed brand ads next to anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi content. He sues and is sued. Over in France, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov is facing criminal charges that allege he was complicit in illegal behavior that took place on his platform. (Telegram claims it follows EU laws.) Meanwhile, the U.S. is pushing to ban TikTok and Roblox is now banned in Turkey for “causing abuse of children.”
