The way people have consumed media has changed rapidly over the last decade.
Billions of people now rely on digital media for rapidly updated content rather than waiting on bulky newspapers to arrive every morning.
But Mark Zuckerberg is in hiding as this bombshell report spreads around the internet like wildfire.
Meta has some explaining to do as these bombshell allegations spread
Social media platforms, such as Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, host billions of users from across the world.
However, recent reports show that Meta allegedly blocked a column put out by the Kansas Reflector newspaper, which just so happened to criticize Meta.
According to the Kansas Reflector, on Thursday morning, all of the Reflector’s content on Meta was flagged as Cybersecurity threats leading to their removal.
Eventually, the Reflector restored the links to their content, except one, titled “When Facebook fails, local media matters even more for our planet’s future.”
This column, published in early April, criticizes Meta for allegedly suppressing content related to climate change.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone tweeted an apology for this suspicious glitch, tweeting, “This was an error that had nothing to do with the Reflector’s recent criticism of Meta. It has since been reversed and we apologize to the Reflector and its readers for the mistake.”
Adam Mosseri, the head of Meta’s Instagram, chimed in, adding, “Sounds like a bug with our share scraper or possibly that the domain is getting caught up in a safety measure by mistake.”
He added, “We certainly don’t block links to articles that are critical about us … I’ll talk to the team now though and chase down the bug so we can get it fixed ASAP.”
However, Sherman Smith, the editor-in-chief of the Kansas Reflector, is not convinced with this explanation, writing that Andy Stone did not cooperate with him and his team.
Smith clapped back with, “Stone said Facebook would not contact individuals to let them know about the mistake. ‘You guys will cover it,’ he said.”
Adding, “He declined to say whether other news media should be concerned about the kind of stories they share on Facebook.”
As media becomes easier to access, so do methods to censor and silence people
What happened to the Kansas Reflector demonstrates the power that Meta and other large companies wield when it comes to monitoring free speech.
Voicing the wrong opinion, or in this case, criticizing Meta, could destroy many content creators.
In this case, the Reflector had resources to fight back; however, for the average Joe, this move from Meta could have been far more damaging.
Stay tuned to Unmuzzled News for any updates to this ongoing story.
