Touted by Facebook executives as the “sanely run” alternative to Elon Musk’s Twitter, Threads, the Twitter clone has launched with the company’s characteristic political bias. The platform censored Donald Trump Jr. with a warning message on its’ first day of operation.
Those users who attempted to follow the former president’s son, received a warning message before they are allowed to do so. The message doesn’t even appear on Instagram, which powers the Threads app, meaning responsibility lies with Threads itself. The platform stated-
“Are you sure you want to follow donaldtrumpjr? This account has repeatedly posted false information that was reviewed by our independent fact-checkers or went against our community guidelines.”
-Threads Media Platform
According to Breitbart News-
“The phrase “sanely run” comes from a Facebook executive’s comment to employees that the company has “been hearing from creators and public figures who are interested in having a platform that is sanely run.”
…This is likely a euphemism for more censorship. The vast majority of complaints about Twitter in the corporate legacy media, and from politicians and regulators, stem from the fact that Elon Musk has vocally rejected the idea that social media platforms should censor their users on behalf of the political left.”
-Breitbart News
According to Forbes –
“Meta launched its Twitter competitor, Threads, Wednesday night, and the platform has already reached 70 million downloads as of Friday morning, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. Twitter users — many of the same ones who have criticized businesses for being ‘woke’ in recent months — were quick to accuse the platform of censoring right-wing voices: Screenshots of a message prompted upon following Donald Trump Jr.’s Threads account, which warns he has “repeatedly posted false information,” went viral.”
Trump Jr. responded on Twitter, stating: “Threads not exactly off to a great start.” Screenshots of similar warnings for other right-wing Threads users also circulated Twitter, including a warning for conservative commentator Rogan O’Handley, who tweeted to his nearly one million followers the false information message was attached to his account after he “posted once about wanting to expose Biden’s corrupt government.” Meta spokesperson Andy Stone addressed both Trump Jr. and O’Handley’s misinformation labels on Twitter, claiming the warnings were errors and have been fixed, for which Trump Jr. thanked him.”
- Forbes
Musk’s control at the helm of Twitter, led to the restoration of a number of prominent conservative accounts but also led many leftist celebrities and journalists to quit the platform. Facebook is now presenting “Thread”, as another alternative platform. It still remains to be seen who will actually inhabit the site, how its’ contributors will line up, or if it will really be successful. For the present – “Thread” is off to a difficult start. Time will tell.
“Withholding information is the essence of tyranny. Control of the flow of information is the tool of the dictatorship.”
-Bruce Coville