LETTERS

Opinion/Letter: Social media platforms should go silent a week or two ahead of election

Staff Writer
Portsmouth Herald

Sept. 18 -- To the Editor:

What would happen if Facebook, Instagram and especially Twitter voluntarily shut down -- went dark – for one or two weeks before the November election?

These social media giants have had little success in effectively curtailing the frenzied lies, hate, rumors, doctored tapes, calls for violence and viewer manipulation that threaten our fragile democracy.

I know that other means of sabotage -- widespread voter disenfranchisement, a hog-tied postal service and possible meddling with voting machines -- would continue to exist. And new social media platforms would probably pop up. But their reach, and therefore damage, would be limited. Going silent for just a few days might provide deeply needed breathing room for voters.

It would be stressful and a burden for those who rely on these platforms to stay in touch with friends and family, especially right now. But there would still be email, Zoom, Facetime, and telephones. And it would only be for a few days.

This is not an easy proposal for me to make. I worked as a reporter for many years and am a card-carrying member of the ACLU. I also, uncomfortably, once defended the race-baiting, right-wing Dartmouth (College) Review’s right to exist. But I also know that social media's scope, reach and lack of editorial regulation or even principle is unlike any communication we’ve ever had. It’s too big, too crowded a theater to allow anyone to falsely and repeatedly yell fire.

Cathy Wolff

Kittery, Maine