TWITTER AND FACEBOOK: Freedom of expression and privacy

Have you ever wondered what the limits of freedom of expression are and what the consequences of going beyond them are? In this digital age, where social networks take on a role not experienced before, the banning of statements and content is considered censorship for some and achievements for others.

freedom of expression, a right

In Brazil, freedom of expression is a right guaranteed in the constitution since 1988, being declared in items IV and IX of article 5. From it, it is possible to have a better understanding of the duties and powers that we have when it comes to expressing ourselves.

We have that, according to item IV, " - The expression of thought is free, with anonymity being prohibited;" , which is valid as long as it does not infringe any other legal sentence. Thus, xenophobic, terrorist, defamatory expressions and other content provided for by law are prohibited. As the item itself raises, the anonymity of the expression is also vetoed, this having the obligation of present authorship.

Returning to also consider item IX, we see that "- The expression of intellectual, artistic, scientific and communication activities is free, regardless of censorship or license;" . From it, it is clear that if the restrictions provided for by law are respected and the previous article, the censorship referring to the content produced by a third party is vetoed.

Multinationals and user censorship

Not only taking Brazil into account as a reference, we also have that large companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and other multinationals that are not directly governed by the laws where their services are offered, also directly affect the rights of freedom of expression and have autonomy to manipulate the data as appropriate according to your perspective, and that's the specific point that we'll address next.

With each country having a definition for what can be shared, excluded or changed, it is difficult to maintain unanimity in opinions regarding the censorship imposed by these companies. A movement of people interested in discussing the matter and reviewing the practices of the use of freedom of expression was strengthened in the beginning of 2020, with the impulse to ban the former president of the United States, Donald Trump, from social networks.

On one of the censorship occasions, Trump had published a video in which he asked the protesters who supported them to return home after protests against the result of the vote counting that led Joe Biden to the presidency. In the video, he called for peace with his supporters and reinforced the idea that the election had been stolen.

In response, Twitter, where the post was made, inserted a warning message in Trump's post, with the following message: "This allegation of electoral fraud is contested and this Tweet cannot be replied to, retweeted or liked due to the risk of violence ".

In addition to the events that occurred in early 2020, there were also episodes of banning other posts in the middle of the same year, this time linked to misinformation related to Covid-19. The protagonist of the involvement was the singer Madonna, who shared a video, made by a doctor who encouraged the use of chloroquine, banned from her social networks.

market opportunities

As a result of the practices used by these social networks, several users started to organize movements out of these environments to others that promised to be more impartial in their veto policies on posting and sharing information.

For some companies in the same field, but less used, this moment was a great opportunity for the entry of new customers and users on their platforms. This was the case of the American company Parler, which had been launched in 2018, and after the aforementioned episodes, approximately 2 million new users were created in a single day in 2020.

Analyzing these scenarios presented, it is possible to see that the opportunities present in the digital age are practically endless. If you take into account that a company with an application, in less than 2 years of life, managed to reach so many users in such a short time, it is clear that there will always be room in the market to reach a large volume of people, even when compared to large companies like Twitter and Facebook.

Tools to build these platforms
 

In the process of creating each of these platforms, it is necessary to outline the objectives, vision and values involved in each of the brands, so that you can make the most of the audience you want to reach and thus solve your frustrations and build customer loyalty.

The construction of these services through applications takes place in a critical and inclusive way, according to the users' needs, which may lead to the use of a construction methodology for these projects that aims to go beyond what is proposed by the project owner. For this it is necessary, in addition to a software development team, a team of project analysts, who aim to help define the requirements of the platform/app.

In this context, FWC Tecnologia works alongside its customers, always offering the best solutions to achieve each one's goals. We outline application development projects that respect the laws of each country where the project will be inserted and we are aware of world trends to guide the best way to build your app.

Here you will find professionals who not only understand about software development but also have market vision and experience in the field, valuing the experience of each user and adding value to your project.

Curious to find out how developing an app with us works? Get in touch and get to know our entire team willing to help you in this process.