On Jan. 6, hundreds of former President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed Capitol Hill after a “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C.. Whether you call it a coup, a siege, or an insurrection, the events that day spurred endless conversation about how to ensure it never happens again. But as Democrats and Republicans alike focus on increasing security funding for Capitol Police, the National Guard, and other law enforcement, all I want to know is when we’re going to pivot to what matters: getting Big Tech the fuck out of here.
As soon as the insurrection ended, there was talk about the role social media played in it. People pointed to obvious culprits like Parler, a far-right alternative to Twitter, while Facebook tried to quickly excuse itself from the narrative — COO Sheryl Sandberg claimed the insurrection was “largely” organized on “platforms that don’t have our abilities to stop hate.” But in the months that followed, as rioters were dragged into courtrooms, Facebook was the most referenced social media site in charging documents from the Justice Department. We now know that people were rampantly spreading misinformation on Facebook and making outright insurrection threats ahead of the riot.
