Facebook, Twitter: Platforms or media companies?

Twitter’s decision to take down several posts in relation to the farm protests and its criticism has brought the spotlight back on a crucial debate relating to how social media companies are classified: they claim to be technology platforms, but how they moderate – and curate by way of algorithmic prioritisation — their content is similar to editorial decisions exercised by media companies.

On Thursday for instance, the social media company took down tweets of Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut. Earlier in the week, it temporarily blocked some accounts in India before unblocking them on the grounds that the company believes in “protecting public conversation and transparency”, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named. “We have taken action on tweets that were in violation of the Twitter rules in line with our range of enforcement options,” a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement.

Growing intervention by tech ‘platforms’