“Big Tech’s Crackdown on Donald Trump and Parler Won’t  Fix the Real Problem With Social Media”

Whitney Phillips, assistant professor of communication and rhetorical studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, was interviewed for the Time Magazine story “Big Tech’s Crackdown on Donald Trump and Parler Won’t  Fix the Real Problem With Social Media.” Phillips, an expert on misinformation and social media, says that part of why social media has become so polluted with far right extremists online is due to the algorithms and business models of these platforms. Phillips says because of this “the platforms have actually done more to benefit and embolden the right,” which greatly contributed to the recent attacks on the Capitol.