Tech giants took a stand against Donald Trump on Friday following the Capitol riot. However, there’s an argument to be made that his entire existence as a political force has entirely changed the way we consume media on a daily basis. Social media, of course, became a massive force over the past decade in spreading information, whether true or false, yet Trump’s own attack on democracy leading up to the 2020 election left companies like Twitter and Instagram no other choice but to fact-check the information being spread on their platform.
Some have considered it censorship while others have applauded the move as a way to combat “fake news.” The rules aren’t limited to politicians or talking heads, either. 50 Cent found his own post he shared this week being compromised, though the post wasn’t removed. Following the Capitol riots, 50 Cent shared a post meant to shed light on the heavy presence of the National Guard at Capitol during the BLM protests during the summer in comparison the Wednesday’s attempted coup. “I don’t have to say anything else,” he captioned the post.
In the wake of Trump’s ban on Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms, 50 Cent took to IG to reveal that his own post about BLM had been flagged by the platform. “so the IG God’s don’t like my BLM post,” he wrote. “don’t know why this was against any rules.”
The OG post did have a fact-check flag that read, “Independent fact-checkers say information in this post is missing context and could mislead people.” The context didn’t negate 50’s argument surrounding how law enforcement treated Black protesters during the BLM demonstrations vs. the response to the insurrectionists. USA Today revealed that the photo wasn’t actually taken at Capitol Hill but 2 miles away at the Lincoln Memorial during the protests over the summer.
Check out 50’s post below.
