Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched a request for information from members of the public whose ability to post or be seen on tech platforms has been limited by said platforms — aka, those who are shadowbanned.
Shadowbanning may refer to different things, but usually, it refers to a user's posts or account having limited visibility. This can range from someone's posts not being included in followers' feeds or an app's "Explore" page to someone's account not showing up in Search.
Social media platforms typically deny that shadowbanning exists, but it's a well-documented occurrence. Now, the FTC, the independent agency that investigates unfair business practices, has called it tech censorship and asked people experiencing it to submit a comment. They also encouraged users who have been banned or demonetized from platforms to submit comments, too.
Platform governance researcher at Northumbria University's Center for Digital Citizens, Dr. Carolina Are, believes it's important for shadowbanned members of the public to submit their comments.
"Users are experts of their own experience, and particularly marginalized users that are targeted by censorship could provide responses and examples anonymously," said Are, who has commented about shadowbanning to Mashable previously.
Are believes it's also important that researchers who have data and proof of how shadowbanning largely affects marginalized communities take part in submitting a comment. Are herself has been shadowbanned before, and has written papers about the subject.
She continued that the timing for the request is interesting "given that the government itself has been censoring quite a lot of things." She referred to the Trump administration erasing language about trans and queer people from government websites and deleting pages about LGBTQ and reproductive rights, as well as calling for the removal of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion language in the sciences.
Are wondered if this call-out is intended for conservatives who claim to be shadowbanned from major platforms. When Elon Musk took over X, then Twitter, some prominent right-wingers claimed the platform shadowbanned them, for example.
The most likely targets for shadowbanning aren't Republicans, according to Are; it's LGBTQ people, sex workers, those who discuss sex on their accounts (like sex educators), and other marginalized content creators.
Recently, creators who post about Palestine online have said they've been shadowbanned as well. The TikTok ban has been linked to pro-Palestine content.
The effectiveness of this new public comment initiative is debatable, though, said Are. She pointed to consultations about the Online Safety Act in the UK when experts said the law threatened privacy. The act passed anyway.
"But I think it's quite important to answer these consultations because then it creates a backlog of evidence, or…precedent that can then be cited in research [that] can be used as an argument to break up platform power," Are said.
She said the questions the FTC posed were interesting, such as about how one's income was impacted and whether these actions were made possible due to a lack of competition for major social media platforms.
FTC chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said in the agency's announcement, "Tech firms should not be bullying their users…This inquiry will help the FTC better understand how these firms may have violated the law by silencing and intimidating Americans for speaking their minds."
Members of the public can submit a comment until May 21. You can also file a private report by going to ReportFraud.ftc.gov and clicking "Report Now."
