The end of the fact check era is worth examining because of how it heralds another liberal failure with little to offer in the way of alternatives. It is just another capitulation in the battle against fascism. Liberals, it turned out, were never really the “resistance” that they pretended they were.
In 2021, in response to Trump’s role in the January 6 Capitol attack, Meta banned the then-president from its platforms. Around that time, over 800 QAnon conspiracy groups were also removed from Facebook. Social media censorship became a hot button for the grievance-driven Trump and his far right.
None of the right-wing’s agenda, however, was about free speech for all. Consider that, at the same time, the right was rallying behind book bans in schools. They didn’t utter a peep when, as The Intercept reported in 2020, dozens of left-wing and antifascist groups were also banned from Facebook. And Meta has been engaging in what Human Rights Watch called “systematic and global” censorship of Palestinian and Palestine-solidarity content on its platforms. Nonetheless, the right has successfully created a victim narrative out of content moderation.
Enter Zuckerberg and the utter lack of subtlety in his announcement. These new policies were clearly not meant to serve the political left or censored pro-Palestinian users. “We’re getting rid of a number of restrictions on topics like immigration, gender identity and gender that are the subject of frequent political discourse and debate,” Zuckerberg said, issuing a thinly veiled signal that anti-trans, anti-immigrant hate would face fewer roadblocks.
I agree with you and it’s a shame that the word has been so effectively associated with “anywhere on the left”, but honestly political names / vocabulary are really frustrating overall, with the way folks have vested interests in twisting words as much as they can.
And honestly, I do have a feeling that the average Democrat-voting Twitter/ Facebook user basically are what you’re describing. Look at them go, loudly complaining about how bad the fascists are, while being unwilling to sacrifice really anything, even their chosen form of entertainment, in service to their oh-so-noble values. The ones who promised to leave the country and shit if Trump was (re-)elected, yet who still post on Twitter, particularly disgust me. So much is just performative.
Lemme put it this way for folks on the left who wonder if I mean them - at the very minimum in terms of “action” - if there are no significant brands or platforms, by now, that you have not walked away from forever because of their behavior - you’re just talking to make yourself feel better about doing nothing. Be quieter and do more useful shit, it feels better and it works better, and no one believes you anymore, anyway.
[Disclaimer for the barely literate: I do not blame anyone on the left for fascists being fascists, they’re the guilty ones, don’t get it twisted. And I make (and long have made) significant voluntary sacrifices for the good I want to see done in the world.]