[Paper Review] New threats to society from free-speech social media platforms

Dominik Bär, Nicolas Pröllochs+1 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Feb 2, 2023

Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection6 citations

TL;DR

This paper argues that free-speech social media platforms—known as 'alt-techs'—pose significant societal threats due to unchecked hate speech, misinformation, and coordination of violent extremism, as seen in events like the January 6 Capitol attack. It calls for evidence-based policies, enhanced research access, and regulatory frameworks to mandate content moderation and transparency, drawing on case studies from Parler, Gab, and Telegram to advocate for interdisciplinary research and institutional oversight.

ABSTRACT

In recent years, several free-speech social media platforms (so-called "alt-techs") have emerged, such as Parler, Gab, and Telegram. These platforms market themselves as alternatives to mainstream social media and proclaim "free-speech" due to the absence of content moderation, which has been attracting a large base of partisan users, extremists, and supporters of conspiracy theories. In this comment, we discuss some of the threats that emerge from such social media platforms and call for more policy efforts directed at understanding and countering the risks for society.

Motivation & Objective

• To analyze the societal risks posed by alt-tech platforms that lack content moderation and promote extremist, conspiratorial, and hate-filled content.
• To examine the role of alt-techs in coordinating real-world violence, including the January 6 Capitol attack and other mass shootings.
• To advocate for evidence-based policy interventions, including regulatory mandates and enhanced research access, to counter the proliferation of harmful content on these platforms.
• To promote interdisciplinary research on user behavior, content dynamics, and societal impacts of alt-tech ecosystems.

Proposed method

• Conducts a qualitative and evidence-based analysis of alt-tech platforms using documented case studies, including the January 6 Capitol attack and the Buffalo and Pittsburgh mass shootings.
• Reviews existing content moderation policies and their absence on alt-techs, contrasting them with mainstream platforms and regulatory frameworks like Germany’s NetzDG and China’s Cybersecurity Law.
• Proposes a three-dimensional research agenda focused on users, content, and society to systematically study alt-tech ecosystems.
• Advocates for computational methods such as NLP and cross-platform analysis to detect and track the spread of misinformation, hate speech, and conspiracy theories.
• Recommends third-party evaluations of content moderation tools (e.g., counter-speech, fact-checking) through large-scale field experiments.
• Calls for policy enforcement of transparency and data access, modeled on initiatives like Twitter’s Transparency Center and Meta’s Ad Library, to extend to alt-techs.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 What are the characteristics of users on alt-tech platforms, and how do they differ across groups such as partisans, extremists, and conspiracy theorists?
• RQ2 What types of content—especially misinformation, hate speech, and extremist material—are proliferated on alt-techs, and what mechanisms drive their spread?
• RQ3 To what extent do alt-techs contribute to societal segregation, political polarization, and radicalization, both online and in real-world violence?
• RQ4 How effective are content moderation techniques like counter-speech and misinformation flags on alt-tech platforms with minimal oversight?
• RQ5 What are the most effective policy and regulatory interventions to reduce the societal risks of alt-techs while preserving free expression?

Key findings

• Alt-tech platforms such as Parler, Gab, and Telegram were instrumental in coordinating the January 6 Capitol attack, with rioters using Parler to share tactics for evading law enforcement and smuggling weapons.
• The Buffalo mass shooter in 2022 was inspired by content from 4chan, demonstrating that alt-techs serve as incubators for racially motivated violence.
• Gab was identified as a primary communication channel during the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, highlighting the role of alt-techs in facilitating hate-fueled terrorism.
• The absence of content moderation on alt-techs enables the unchecked spread of conspiracy theories, such as QAnon, and links to misinformation sites like Breitbart.com.
• Homogeneous user bases on alt-techs reduce exposure to opposing viewpoints, accelerating echo chamber effects and radicalization.
• Public and regulatory pressure—such as the removal of Parler from Apple and Google app stores—can severely disrupt alt-tech operations, demonstrating the effectiveness of external enforcement.