Social Media’s Impact on Democracy

• The Guardian, owned by Elon Musk, has stopped posting on X, a platform deemed toxic.

• The Guardian’s ownership raises concerns about its influence on political discourse.

• Pratik Sinha suggests viewing online spaces similarly to offline spaces.

• Musk uses X as a personal tool, not just a political tool.

• Government’s relationship with social media monopolies makes censorship easy.

• Decline in referrals from social media and search engines indicates a mismatch between news organizations’ editorial standards and Musk’s.

• Musk’s views on content moderation and free press have been rejected.

• Journalists are leaving platforms like Mastodon, Threads, and Bluesky.

• Centralization of information is a significant issue.

• Misinformation is platform-agnostic.

• Platforms need to invest in content moderators to prevent toxicity.

• AI systems and content management moderation systems are suggested to reduce toxicity.

• Communication systems should not be confused with monopolies.

• News outlets should choose platforms that operate ethically.

• Media and information literacy classes in schools are recommended.