For a digital platform that claims to have no bias, Meta sure does seem keen on censoring certain voices. Instagram, which is owned by Meta, was recently exposed for trying to dissuade its users from following conservative media personality Tucker Carlson, according to a report from The Blaze.
The outlet published a piece detailing how its social media content coordinator found that following Carlson on Instagram more difficult than it should be. He found that the company placed a warning on Carlson’s page for those considering following him.
Ashton DeGroot, Blaze Media’s social media content coordinator, observed Monday that following Carlson is no easy feat on the Meta platform.
A perfunctory search for Carlson failed to turn up his verified account. Instead, impersonators and fan accounts flooded the results. After multiple tries, it appeared clear that Carlson’s verified account would only appear if his exact handle, @TuckerCarlson, was entered into the search bar.
Upon finding Carlson’s account, DeGroot found that Instagram put up one last barrier to engagement, imploring prospective followers to reconsider.
The pop-up reads, “Are you sure you want to follow tuckercarlson?”
“This account has repeatedly posted false information that was reviewed by independent fact-checkers or it went against our Community Guidelines,” added the pop-up.
In case you’re wondering whether the outlet slapped a similar warning on CNN, MSNBC, and other news outlets that have brazenly posted false information on social media, they haven’t. In fact, I just tried to follow Carlson on Instagram and did not receive the warning, which could suggest that Instagram removed it after The Blaze’s report.
DeGroot said he had never seen this type of warning before. “I was following a lot of people for [a Blaze Media account], and out of the 100+ that I followed, Tucker was the only one for whom this came up,” he said.
When asked for comment about Instagram’s apparent suppression effort, Neil Patel, co-founder and CEO of the Tucker Carlson Network, told Blaze News, “Tucker has one of the largest audiences in all of media. Millions of people rely on him because they know he’s trying his best to tell the truth.”
“This combination of scale and independence is a serious threat to established power,” continued Patel. “That is the only reason why people can’t even go to a Tucker Carlson birthday post on Instagram without some insane warning.”
“Luckily, people are on to this,” Patel added, noting that they’ve elected to sidestep “big tech censors” like Instagram altogether and go straight to Tucker Carlson’s website.
DeGroot described this story as “a manifestation of what Glenn [Beck] has been saying for years: The left will push conservative voices out of the public square and into the digital ghetto.”
To folks who have been paying attention to the media landscape over the past decade, Beck’s prediction has already been coming true. Progressives have used their positions to crack down on right-leaning voices to ensure that the hard left maintains a level of supremacy over what can and cannot be said on digital platforms.
Elon Musk buying Twitter, now X, seems to have put a damper on their plans. However, even his ownership of X has not fully stopped the censorship problem.
Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in May that he is suing Meta for allegedly collaborating with the federal government to silence his voice and others that oppose the Democratic Party.
The fact of the matter is that folks on the authoritarian left are trying their level best to keep their detractors silent. Meta is no exception, despite its constant denials of bias.
