Democracy dies on Instagram
+ Russell Brand’s wifi amulet, MrBeast flopping!?, thinspo Twitter, and more
Geoff Fowler a published a great look into how Meta’s Instagram, Facebook and Threads suppress content related to the election. Some revelations: Even discussing how to vote isn’t safe, prominent liberal Instagram accounts’ audiences are plummeting since Meta rolled out its restrictions, and Meta has complete control over three of the most widely used tools for self-expression.
As Drew Harwell posted, “Secretly suppressing posts with the word "v o t e" in them during an election year is completely insane.”
Unfortunately, Meta has engaged in this type of overly aggressive content moderation for years. The company wholesale blocked searches for vaccines and Long Covid for months during one of the deadliest waves of the pandemic, and still currently downranks that content, directly endangering public health.
Meta claims it’s doing all of this to stay out of politics, but these decisions have a massive impact on our political landscape.
“Meta’s decision to artificially limit the reach of political content on Threads, [Instagram, and Facebook] is itself a POLITICAL decision,” Judd Legum posted last year. “It privileges those who benefit from the political status quo by suppressing information that could disrupt the status quo while elevating entertainment, sports and other topics that do not threaten the powerful.”
Meta deems any content that discusses social justice or identity (things like LGBTQ rights, reproductive justice, etc) as “political”. The company says it will restrict any image, video, or text post that “identifies a problem that impacts people and is caused by the action or inaction of others,” which is an incredibly wide swath of content. If you speak about these things on Meta, your reach will be limited and your account will be surfaced to fewer people.
Meta’s undue restrictions on “political” content matter because social media has a profound impact on how people understand their communities and the world. One in five Americans regularly gets their news from Instagram — more than TikTok, X or Reddit.
Meta’s actions, Geoff writes “could leave swaths of Americans wondering why we aren’t hearing as much about the election. And less likely to vote, too.”
I think it’s incredibly ironic that we’re set to ban TikTok over, in part, completely unproven allegations that it was warping political discussions (again, with no evidence) yet here we have one of the largest social media behemoths in America heavily manipulating people’s access to crucial information about things like voting, and there’s zero outcry or action from lawmakers.
Watch this extremely good talk
I had the pleasure of witnessing this 19 minute talk by Cabel Sasser of Panic, an app development company, live at XOXO this summer and it’s legitimately wonderful. It’s about life, art, and what it means to leave a legacy as a creative. Also, McDonalds.
Every minute of the speech is worth it, especially if you’re someone who does any sort of creative work.
Forbes announces its inaugural Creator Upfronts
Forbes is launching its own “upfronts” event specifically geared toward creators. As
notes, it's basically an opportunity for creators and marketers to get in a room together and forge ad partnerships. Kind of similar to how the TV upfronts allow broadcast networks to pitch advertisers on their upcoming shows, but the whole thing is sponsored by Walmart.Forbes doesn’t have the best track record on this stuff. Two years ago they launched their Top Creators list, but the media company made the event inaccessible for disabled creators, which (while I assume was unintentional) was not a good look. Overall, the outlet doesn’t cover the creator world too much, but I hope that will change. There are some really great journalists at Forbes! I think it’s a good sign they’re thinking about the space. We’ll see if this latest event is inclusive and accessible for all types of creators or just a handful of A listers.
A deep dive on Russell Brand’s magical amulet
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Russell Brand is selling a new evil-repelling magical amulet after converting to hardcore christianity. The amulet protects you from WiFi signals and other "evil energies” and costs a cool $239.99 per amulet. YouTube video essayist Evan from Backlog Review, did a great Twitter thread breaking it all down.
“We're left with Russell Brand, shilling a plastic keyring for a company whose scientific justification is the most obvious woo I have ever read, backed by a foundation who cite a mind control expert in their list of publications.”
Please stop listening to Chris Rufo
Remember Chris Rufo's big-reveal video that purported to show immigrants grilling cats in Dayton, Ohio? Well, an actual reporter from
went to Dayton, and Rufo's sources contradicted quite literally everything he published.What I’m reading
AI-Powered Social Media Manipulation App Promises to 'Shape Reality'
A prototype app called Impact describes “A Volunteer Fire Department For The Digital World,” which would summon real people to copy and paste AI-generated talking points on social media. - 404 Media
Meet the Conspiracy-Peddling Gossip Blogger Who’s Cast Herself as a Trump-RFK Player
Kraus has a million Instagram followers, and her Substack is top-ranked in the platform’s culture category. - Mother Jones
MrBeast’s Latest Video Is Underperforming, but Why?
The latest MrBeast video has been his least successful in years. Could the controversies and endless advertisements be catching up to him? Or was it just a video that missed its mark? - Passionfruit
Indie sleaze nostalgia has revived Y2K’s “thinspo” community
The return of indie sleaze has coincided with a resurgence of "thinspo" content and eating disorder glamorization. - The Fader
How to deal with the feeling of too many trends
The key is in embracing the Internet as being a part of the real world, a place we live rather than a place we consume, which will help you see all of these things as more than just discourse and entertainment. - Earnest Pettie
Anyone Can Turn You Into an AI Chatbot. There’s Little You Can Do to Stop Them
Character AI lets users create bots in the likeness of any person—without requiring their consent. - WIRED
Can Stanford tell the difference between scientific fact and fiction? Its pandemic conference raises doubts.
Online conspiracy-mongers shared the stage with scientists and public health advocates at a Stanford University conference. Why were they even let into the room? - LA Times
WhatsApp vigilantes in India are converting Christians by force
How far-right Hindu nationalists use WhatsApp to target Christian families when they’re most vulnerable — by preventing them from burying their dead. (A really gutting story about the impact of a platform on a situation I would have never considered) - Rest of World
The internet is obsessed with watching pretty girls eat
Pleasure and fantasy through digital consumption - Ad Hoc
More fun stuff
Al Pacino shows off his Shrek phone case.
The Verge’s 2004 week is bait for elder millennials in their late 30s (me lol) and I’m obsessed with it.
A look into the not-quite-known etymology of WLW, a term for queer women, as its usage has evolved from the Harlem Renaissance to TikTok.
Stanley Kubrick has a MAGA daughter.
A “verified” national parks account is posting AI slop to generate engagement.
Surprisingly, a random verified X account posting under the handle “Black Insurrectionist--I FOLLOW BACK TRUE PATRIOTS” is not a reliable source for news about Tim Walz.
Tina Brown is a Substacker now.
E.W. Niedermeyer signed a deal for a new book about how Elon was able to wrestle control of an entire society's relationship with cars.
Marques Brownlee called out companies for using an AI clones of his voice to push products.
This tweet (below) led me to this game called POOLS, which is a really cool atmospheric/psychological horror game with no jumpscares or monsters and instead focuses heavily on mazes and instilling an oppressive “i’m lost” feeling, as one user put it. If you like backrooms content on YouTube this game is for you.
Bring back people dancing on the taskbar!
Ward Christensen, co-inventor of the computer bulletin board system (BBS), which transformed the web, died at age 78 this week. Christensen’s system literally birthed online culture as we know it today. Sad to lose such a pioneer of the early web.
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The Cabel Sasser talk was a delight!