Nation States vs Big Tech

“Everything in moderation, including moderation,” so said Oscar Wilde. When it comes to social media platforms it is exactly that - a moderation of moderation - that is landing tech billionaires in some very hot water.

On both sides of the argument, people see this as a collision course. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Carole Cadwalladr has described it as a 'showdown between the pseudo crypto libertarianism and that old-fashioned, resolutely analogue concept known as the nation state.'

Others see this clash in an opposite but equally binary way. Simply that 'liberals' and 'the woke' seek revenge and state recourse on those they disapprove of – most prominently free speech absolutist tech billionaires - and call to treat them as criminals.

This week’s 52INSIGHTS, by the social and digital Innovation team, delves into the debate surrounding the seemingly ethereal actions of tech billionaires and their platforms, along with the tangible impact these platforms have on brands and people that continue to operate within them.

Elon Musk vs Brazil, Venezuela, the UK...

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and owner of Social Media platform X (formerly Twitter) and the wealthiest person in the world is no stranger to controversy or 52INSIGHTS.

X is one of the world’s most popular social networks, but since August has gone offline in Brazil - the country with the fifth largest digital population globally, including 22 million - until recently - active X users.

The dispute began in April, when Justice Alexandre de Moraes, a Brazilian Supreme Court Judge, ordered the suspension of dozens of accounts for allegedly spreading hate speech and disinformation regarding the 2023 Brazilian Congress attack. An attack by a violent mob supporting the ousted right-wing president Jair Bolsanora, and attempting to overthrow the newly democratically elected centre-left president Luiz Lula De Silva.

So far, so familiar. Musk promptly denounced this request for the suspension of accounts as censorship. A summer of tension followed.

Then, just last month, the final straw before X’s blocking came, Musk ignored a 24-hour deadline to name a new legal representative after the social media platform closed its local office in Brazil in mid-August.

Various Justices in the country supported the ban commenting: “Economic power and the size of one’s bank account do not produce some strange immunity from jurisdiction”, and “No one can seek to perform their activities in Brazil without complying with the laws and the federal constitution.”

Musk hit back on two fronts: defying the telecoms regulator and continuing to allow access to X via his satellite internet provider Starlink. And by tweeting (posting on X) that Justice Moraes was a 'fake judge', 'the dictator of Brazil' and even resorting to some juvenile name-calling, describing him as 'Brazil’s Voldemort'.

Falling out with an entire state is not new for Musk. Earlier in August, X was banned in Venezuela following allegations of people using the platform to incite hatred in the wake of the controversial election of socialist Nicolas Maduro.

But it is not just South America that has caught Musk’s attention. At the height of a simmering summer of tension with violent riots erupting in cities around the UK (including Belfast), Musk claimed that a “civil war is inevitable”. He went on to spread fake news stories about the UK government preparing internment camps on the Falkland Islands for the rioters to his 164 Million followers - before deleting the post. He then took aim at the newly elected Labour prime minister Keir Starmer calling him 'two-tier Keir' a reference to the conspiracy theory that police are treating white far-right 'protesters' more harshly than minority groups. This is a debunked theory (spread by among others extreme right-wing EDL founder Tommy Robinson and the Reform UK leader Nigel Farage) that there are two different approaches to policing based on race.

Telegram vs France

While Musk spent his August fuelling political unrest around the world with impunity, another, entirely different scenario unfolded on a runway in north-east Paris. Tech Billionaire and Chief executive of Telegram Pavel Durov was arrested and indicted on 12 charges, including alleged complicity in the distribution of child exploitation material and drug trafficking.

Telegram is a cloud-based messaging app known for its emphasis on privacy, security, and speed. It offers end-to-end encryption for secret chats, large group capacities, and media-sharing features. It has about 950 million regular users globally. It’s partly a messaging system like WhatsApp, but whereas WhatsApp caps group numbers at 1,024, Telegram allows up to 200,000 and in that sense it’s also a broadcasting system like X. It will come as no surprise that the app is a hotbed of criminal activity including fraud, trading leaked databases, document forgery, and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. However, young people are also using it to connect - creating personal /diaries blogs on the app (35% of European 13-39-year-olds are currently using the platform - some report it’s more popular than Facebook with younger users).

The main issue, despite the serious charges, is whether the platform can be held legally responsible for what happens through its services. Can Durov be liable for illegal content on Telegram without direct evidence of his involvement or knowledge? This raises important questions about platform responsibility under European law, especially with the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires strict content moderation. While Durov's arrest isn't directly linked to DSA breaches, the case might set new standards for platform accountability.

Rethinking the Role of Digital Platforms?

While all of this might feel distant, it is less than a year since Musk inserted himself into the Irish political discourse, tweeting about new hate speech legislation in November 2023.

But it’s not just inserting itself into Irish politics that X is interested in, it is also removing itself. Representatives from X were notably absent from an Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media to face questions about its response to the spread of disinformation and hate speech during the riots in Dublin on November 23rd, while representatives of Google, TikTok and Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, attended.

As these confrontations unfold, one thing becomes increasingly clear: the lines between free speech, platform responsibility, and national sovereignty are blurring. Whether it’s Musk’s defiance of Brazilian courts and trolling of Irish and UK political leaders or Durov’s legal troubles in France, the tension between the tech elite and the law is forcing us to rethink the role of digital platforms in society. How far can tech giants go before the state draws a line? And what will be the cost, both for personal liberties and for the accountability of those who control these platforms? As governments struggle to regulate, and billionaires challenge the rules, this battle may shape the very future of democracy in the digital age.

With an Irish general election looming large on the horizon, we certainly have skin in the game.

Brand Takeouts

Navigating Political Sensitivities: Social media platforms can quickly become arenas for political controversy, as evidenced by Musk’s involvement in global political discussions. For brands, staying neutral or aligning campaigns with socially responsible messaging is crucial to avoid being drawn into political conflicts that may alienate audiences or invite backlash.

Leverage Evolving Digital Legislation: With new laws such as the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) tightening regulations, marketers should see this as an opportunity to prioritise transparent, ethical communication. Brands that are proactive about compliance with content moderation and data privacy standards will be better positioned to gain consumer trust in this shifting digital landscape.

Keep Resetting - Audiences are in a constant state of Flux: Given the fraught nature of politics on X it is no wonder that politicians have been leaving the platform in their droves. And digital bans like those currently taking place in Brazil and Venezuela are significantly boosting new registrations on X alternatives such as Bluesky (Co-founder by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey) - which has seen one million new registrations from Brazil alone since the ban. Marketers should constantly evaluate their presence, purpose and audiences on social platforms.