TP O’Mahony: Social media must uphold values of a free and democratic society

Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter operate in an unregulated digital space with no effective accountability, writes TP O’Mahony

Twitter owner Elon Musk made it clear earleir this year that he would role back Twitter’s community standards and safety guidelines, reinstate Donal Trump along with scores of other accounts suspended for violence and abuse, and open the floodgates of disinformation.

 

SOCIAL media platforms today threaten not just the future of newspapers but also, because of their unaccountable power, the future of democracy. And fears about how that power might be used have been heightened by the successful takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk in a $44bn deal.