Episode 236: Social Media Deplatforming

In this episode, Niki, Natalia, and Neil discuss the deplatforming of extremists by social media sites from Reddit to YouTube.

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Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: 

• Social media platforms like Reddit are taking a harder line on regulating extremist content. Natalia referred to this article about the undisclosed relationship between Ben Shapiro’s conservative sites and Facebook, and to this Vice piece about the effectiveness of social media bans. Niki referenced this New York Times article about YouTube radicalization.

In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:

• Natalia recommended Alec MacGillis’ ProPublica article, “How Dollar Stores Became Magnets for Crime and Killing.”
• Neil discussed the unique moment in cultural writing and reporting right now, pointing to New Yorker food critic Hannah Goldfield’s recent reviews of takeout restaurants and frozen food and to Vinson Cunningham’s essay on the African-American playwright, Lorraine Hansberry.
• Niki shared Elaina Plott’s New York Times article, “The Fall of Jeff Sessions, and What Came After.”