Meta’s Threads – the X clone which cynics might call “the social platform nobody asked for” – and which few are (for some reason) using – is nonetheless implementing speech-restricting measures similar to those on Meta’s successful sites like Facebook or Instagram.
And so, those behind Threads are keeping themselves busy by “rolling out a fact-checking program,” said the reports.
They also allege that Threads is “distancing itself from politics” (how does any, even semi-free platform even manage to accomplish that? The answer seems to be – they don’t).
Apparently, the distance supposedly created here is not big enough to keep Threads out of the censorship politics. We are talking about the only thing this could mean at this time – “misinformation” in the context of elections.
Related: Instagram and Threads To Restrict All Political Speech By Default
Especially given some ongoing legal battles around previous cases of collusion between the US government and Big Tech, one really has to wonder what is going on, not on the largely insignificant Threads – but across the major social platform landscape, given that their actions this election year seem to come right out of the same playbook.
In the meantime, Threads users may be happy, or otherwise, depending on their disposition toward free speech, that the network does indeed have “fact-checkers” deployed – but it seems, “not fully” that is, “directly.”
If you wondered how “indirect” censorship functions these days, TechCrunch – which somewhat excitably refers to Threads as an “X rival” – has you covered by citing Meta as stating that, well – before “fact-checking partners” are let loose on the platform, Threads is “only able to match existing fact-checks to “near-identical content.”
The reports of content being “fact-checked” came from users, and if mainstream tech press is your “trusted source” – you will believe those users are disappointed by this delay in terms of direct vs. near identical basis for censorship.
And – what does “near-identical” even mean, when talking about topics as serious as curtaining speech on any – even this platform? In the meantime, there are those Thread users, revealing that labels are cropping up on posts.
“In one case, both as an interstitial over a false AI-generated video and as a pop-up that appeared from the bottom of the screen,” TechCrunch has explained.
The overarching sentiment seems to be: that there is the will to censor, it’s just not there yet.
Or – there’s no point in bothering, on a platform like Threads.
