The Crisis Our Democracy Faces Isn’t Just Trump – It’s Also Unfettered Social Media

For a minute there, I thought the worst was behind us. Let’s take a tally of what happened to our democracy last week: Control of the Senate flipped from the venal grip of Mitch McConnell to the Democrats; a violent mob failed in their attempt to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential win; Donald Trump was exposed as having incited the insurrection at the Capitol; he was banned from Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and calls came for his resignation, impeachment or removal under the 25th Amendment because of it. On the whole, you could say it was a turbulent and scary week, but our democracy came through it. But this isn’t the end of the road. Because what became crushingly clear last week is that our democracy is vulnerable not only because of a seditious commander-in-chief, but because of the tools of 21st-century communication. Our social media platforms hold an outsize power over whether our democracy stands or falls. The ability to amass a following, to communicate to followers directly with no regulation or mediation by our government, is not a leak in our boat but a gaping hole. We knew before last week that the scale and power...

Read original story The Crisis Our Democracy Faces Isn’t Just Trump – It’s Also Unfettered Social Media At TheWrap