Do we want social media firms censoring critiques of US role in world events? – The Boston Globe

Posted: March 31, 2022 at 2:32 am

Marcela Garca argues that social media platforms like Facebook should censor misinformation that may give [Spanish-language users] a misguided idea about what caused the war in Ukraine (Social media platforms must address Russias Spanish-language misinformation, Opinion, March 26). Such misinformation supposedly includes propaganda and conspiracy theories that blame the United States for the armed conflict.

Do we want censors employed by corporations like Facebook to determine the cause of the Russian invasion, and protect readers from any analyses that argue, as one researcher puts it, that the United States was the reason for possible escalation? Should we be allowed only to hear voices that claim that the United States has played no role?

Every war has tangled roots and causes, including this one. Academic and political debate about these causes should not be censored by tech companies. Latino readers, just like non-Latino readers, have a right to read different perspectives, even perspectives critical of US government policy.

If Latin Americans who may have very good reasons, based on their own history, to be critical of US foreign policy are seeking alternative sources of information, maybe its because the mainstream media have often failed to report inconvenient truths about US interventions abroad.

Aviva Chomsky

Salem

The writer is a professor of history and the coordinator of Latin American studies at Salem State University.

Continue reading here:
Do we want social media firms censoring critiques of US role in world events? - The Boston Globe

Related Posts