Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently came up with a new app, popularly being addressed as a rival to Elon Musk's Twitter. The two have been involved in online banter since the app came out two weeks ago. The Twitter CEO has blamed Meta's CEO for stealing his app's idea and launching it as his own.
The Threads app has been successful in garnering around 5 million followers in two days' time and it didn't come as a surprise to the digital users as the app has created a lot of hype and buzz in recent weeks. With another app in the digital ecosystem, the proliferation of misinformation and online hate has flared even more. According to a report, the Threads app, within 24 hours of its launch, was successful in spreading misinformation and online hate.
Mark Zuckerberg promised the app to be more positive, productive and friendly as compared to Elon Musk's Twitter. As opposed to what Zuckerberg said about the app being friendly, the app is already fueling propaganda from different angles. According to research by Media Matters, within 24 hours of its launch, the app was joined by right wing figures from America. In India too, many celebrities and eminent personalities have joined the application creating impacts with their content. However, they have not influenced any wave of misinformation and hopefully the western stride does not hit India.
These individuals are only some examples of a large group of people who have joined the app and are spreading misinformation about a lot of topical issues/topics that have been making headlines in recent times, across the world. Elections, the LGBTQ+ community, vaccine safety are only some of the topics that are being targeted by these users. In India and across the world too, the app has become the hotline for spreading community hate and misinformation.
A user base of more than 70 million followers within a week's time has made Threads the most sought-after and the most vulnerable app. For countering user-harm, Threads has started some with some built-in defense mechanisms for harmful content, as its user policies are the same as Instagram’s. When people click to follow accounts that have been flagged for spreading misinformation in the past, for instance, Threads shows a warning asking if they’re sure. A lot of safety features are still lacking from the app, which will hopefully be incorporated in the app in future for a safer online user experience.
