Megan Tomoney

In the last few months, Big Tech companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have come under fire for allegedly censoring a specific group of users. People who may appear to have conservative views or are openly conservative have expressed their annoyance with being censored, seemingly, more than liberals. 

Big Tech companies have been under a lot of fire in the past year. From being called monopolies, to new rules being set in place for them in the UK, Big Tech does not need more heat. It seems though that some conservatives are asking the question: Can we continue to trust Big Tech?

On Facebook, one duo under the names Conservative Twins or Hodge Twins claimed that their Facebook page was being threatened with removal for going against community guidelines. The Hodge Twins are two brothers with a following of over 6 million on Facebook and 10 million across all social media. Their content follows a more conservative view but takes a comedic approach.  

In a lengthy tweet after the news broke, the twins wrote, “The NY Times recent article is claiming we are right-wing provocateurs. They are interfering with this election! Conservatives are being censored on FB.” Donald Trump Jr. even replied in favor of the twins.

In September, an Instagram influencer named Esther Berg had her account locked due to the “violation of community guidelines.” Instagram’s defense was that they “do not allow people to show intimate images of others without their consent.” 

As reported by The New York Post, the post in question involved comparison photos between Ivanka Trump and Chiara de Blasio. The picture of Mayor de Blasio’s daughter featured her taking a picture of herself on the subway while she exposed most of her body, while Ivanka’s showed her dressed well with make-up done. Berg captions the photo, “On November 3rd, you decide what kind of America you want your daughter growing up in … Vote.”

After seeing it, it is understandable why Instagram felt the need to flag the post, but Berg is more upset that her entire account was locked when she had over 300,00 followers on her page. With what she feels is a double standard, Berg makes the point that hashtags such as “#shootrump” are still being allowed to float around Instagram, along with videos wishing President Trump, and his family, death. 

These hashtags, which directly violate community guidelines by inciting violence and the threat of harm, can even be considered a felony. Joe Biden is no stranger to insulting and demeaning hashtags either, but they seem to pale in comparison to the ones created for President Trump. 

Despite what happened with the Hodge Twins and countless others, whether conservatives are actively being targeted online is debated by liberals. While in mainstream media today, liberal views are more advertised and discussed, some of the most viewed people on the internet are conservative, according to Angelo Carusone. Back in October, NBC News published an article by Carusone stating that “conservative content on Facebook receives significantly greater engagement than other content.” He claims that this comes from “study after study” done after claims of bias were becoming more frequent.    

Pew Research did a study in August to see how deep this issue really runs with average Americans. They found that 69% of Republicans believe that the media is left-leaning, while only 25% of Democrats believe Big Tech supports conservatives.

Even with these claims made by Carusone, conservatives are still concerned that Big Tech is in line with the Democrats.