The UN Concerns About Social Media Can Be Misused To Control Society

UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres (un.org)

JAKARTA - These days, the power of social media is getting out of hand. The riots caused by the power of social media users are very concerning, including the Capitol attack and the closure of Donald Trump's social media account.

This matter is highlighted by the United Nations (UN). According to Antonio Guterres, social media such as Facebook and Twitter use their power to make decisions.

"There must be a policy framework to regulate such things to be done according to the law", said Guterres as quoted by Reuters on Monday, February 1.

Previously, various social media platforms suspended the account of former US President Donald Trump because his posts were deemed to trigger riots and could violate social media user rules.

In the beginning, it was Twitter that suspended Trump's account within 12 hours. Previously, Twitter had also warned Trump to delete his tweet which was deemed inciting the attack on the Capitol building, last January 6.

Jack Dorsey as CEO of Twitter said that this action was the right decision. Not long after Twitter, Facebook also suspended Trump's account, as well as his Instagram account. YouTube has also followed suit.

Guterres regrets this. According to him, social media companies will become more powerful and can determine their own policies because they do not have a clear legal basis.

"We cannot live in conditions where we often encounter a lot of power held by companies", said Guterres. "I am very worried about the strength they already have".

The UN Secretary-General revealed that social media plays a role in various political issues so that it has the potential to be misused to control a society.

Guterres emphasized that social media companies are responsible for ensuring the security of their users' data. So that the data is not used for commercial purposes such as advertising. Social media also plays a role in influencing people's mindsets.