| Jonathan Greenblatt is chief executive officer of the Anti-Defamation League. In 2017, he launched the ADL's Center on Technology and Society in Silicon Valley to fight the rising tide of antisemitism and hate on social media. This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Boigon: The social media site Parler has drawn millions of new users from Facebook and Twitter who are fleeing what they see as censorship on mainstream platforms. Why does this matter? Greenblatt: Parler is interesting because its founder, John Matze, talks about wanting to make it really a public square and a place where people who feel constrained on the major mainstream platforms can find their voice and have open conversations.
But a quick scan of the site finds that it’s really nothing like that at all, and in fact it’s become a cesspool of stereotypes and slander. The question we would have for John or for anyone is, does Parler want to be a public square? Or a frat party, where the loudest and most sensational voices are really the ones that get heard?
While there are a number of credible conservatives on the site — elected officials, public personalities — there’s also a dizzying array of white supremacists, QAnon enthusiasts, boogaloo proponents and so on. It’s troubling because it doesn’t appear that it’s truly a public square for all opinions, it seems like it’s skewed toward intemperate voices. Boigon: The ADL has written about how Parler mingles mainstream users and extremists. Why is that dangerous? Greenblatt: The concern is that when you put conspiratorial rhetoric and hateful stereotypes alongside ordinary ideas as if they were all part of the public conversation, you risk legitimizing the worst voices. Without any basis for a user to differentiate fact from fiction, It becomes complicated.
Mainstream media has figured this out. There’s a reason why you don’t have Holocaust deniers on MSNBC or Fox or CNN.
The question is, do platforms have a responsibility to ensure that their users or their readers or their viewers, or whatever shape they might take — that they’re putting in front of them credible, fact-based views so they can make informed decisions about the content they’re consuming? Boigon: Do you worry that the departure of some users from mainstream platforms to more fringe social networking platforms like Parler is a disincentive for Facebook or Twitter to keep cracking down on disinformation?
Greenblatt: Ultimately, it’s up to Facebook and Twitter. What we’re asking them to do, or any of the other mainstream services, is not to defy the laws of gravity — it’s to enforce their terms of service, which theoretically tackle these things.
I would think they would be pleased to have intemperate and hostile voices somewhere else, but I can’t really speak to their management.
I think it is a good thing, in some ways, if the biggest platforms with the most reach realize they have a responsibility not just to their shareholders, but to all their stakeholders. Not just to the people who sit around the table or in the boardroom, but in fact all of their employees who often come from the communities being attacked and marginalized by the worst voices.
I hope that his trend will encourage them on the path we want to see them move down much more quickly and much more comprehensively. | 