It's a common claim from Republican lawmakers and media personalities that social media outlets suppress conservative posts and accounts, falsely accusing the private companies of First Amendment violations.
After former President Donald Trump was banned from a host of social media outlets this past January for inciting violence among his followers, these claims only skyrocketed.
That's led to legions of conservative opportunists to peddle pro-Trump social media outlets that supposedly put no holds on speech limitations.
One of the most recent is GETTR, launched by former Trump spokesman Jason Miller, but the outlet's defining characteristic—its lax content moderation—is yielding some scary results.
According to a report from Mark Scott and Tina Nguyen of Politico, GETTR is being inundated by "terrorist propaganda spread by supporters of Islamic State."
Users have been subjected to graphic beheading videos, calls for violence against the west, and even depictions of militants executing Trump. The Politico report notes that at least 250 GETTR accounts regularly post such content, boosting it with pro-Jihadi hashtags.
Though GETTR brands itself as a free speech absolutist platform, it does indeed ban "unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, indecent, vulgar, obscene, sexually explicit, pornographic, profane, hateful, racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable material[.]"
In a statement, Miller said:
"ISIS is trying to attack the MAGA movement because President Trump wiped them off the face of the earth, destroying the Caliphate in less than 18 months, and the only ISIS members still alive are keyboard warriors hiding in caves and eating dirt cookies."
People weren't exactly surprised to learn that extremists found an online haven in right-wing social media.
Sounds about right\u2026https://twitter.com/willsommer/status/1422153325072502785\u00a0\u2026— Clint Swayback III (@Clint Swayback III) 1627915452
Terrorists will take advantage of any platform that won't moderate speech. It's an unfortunate reality, but it's reality.\n\nI only hope that Gettr's security is so poor that it's easy for LE/CT to track ISIS.https://twitter.com/willsommer/status/1422153325072502785\u00a0\u2026— Jake Williams (@Jake Williams) 1627915276
In the latest episode of It's Always Sunny in Trumpland, titled "Jason Goes America All Over Everybody's Ass", the gang learns that too much freedom is possible after ISIS sets up shop in the basement.https://twitter.com/willsommer/status/1422153325072502785\u00a0\u2026— Scott Santens \ud83e\udde2\ud83c\udfc4\u200d\u2642\ufe0f (@Scott Santens \ud83e\udde2\ud83c\udfc4\u200d\u2642\ufe0f) 1627913889
Not surprising. They share many similarities.https://twitter.com/willsommer/status/1422153325072502785\u00a0\u2026— Matt Murphy (@Matt Murphy) 1627915452
Like cryptocurrencies and various kinds of frauds, every new free speech platform turns into "Why we have the content moderation framework we currently do - speed run edition"https://twitter.com/willsommer/status/1422153325072502785\u00a0\u2026— Ryan Butner Uses The Internet (@Ryan Butner Uses The Internet) 1627912539
Some noted similarities in the philosophies informing both right-wing and jihadi extremism.
Extremism attracts extremism. Match made in heaven.https://twitter.com/willsommer/status/1422153325072502785\u00a0\u2026— Andr\u00e9 Ferreira (@Andr\u00e9 Ferreira) 1627914972
They are very easy targets. https://twitter.com/willsommer/status/1422153325072502785\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/kYPbmCCE0N— Pumpkin Spice Anarchist Jurisdiction (@Pumpkin Spice Anarchist Jurisdiction) 1627916254
A match made in heavenhttps://twitter.com/willsommer/status/1422153325072502785\u00a0\u2026— The Cosmist Insurrection, Inc. \u2122 (@The Cosmist Insurrection, Inc. \u2122) 1627912469
In Birds of a Feather newshttps://twitter.com/willsommer/status/1422153325072502785\u00a0\u2026— Ian Livingston (@Ian Livingston) 1627915364
It's unclear how GETTR will move to moderate the content.
