“Shadow banning” is a fairly recent technique supposedly used across social media platforms that effectively “bans” the user while keeping the user unaware that he or she has been banned. Social media outlets have the ability to do this by hiding a user’s posts from their friends, followers, timelines, and newsfeeds, while still allowing the user to see their own posts.

What is shadow banning?

“Shadow banning” is a fairly recent technique supposedly used across social media platforms that effectively “bans” the user while keeping the user unaware that he or she has been banned. Social media outlets have the ability to do this by hiding a user’s posts from their friends, followers, timelines, and newsfeeds, while still allowing the user to see their own posts.

It is often difficult for a social media user to figure out whether or not they have been shadow banned, but frequent users of these sites have figured out a few methods to attempt to identify a shadow ban.

If one’s posts are not receiving the interactions (likes, retweets, clicks, etc.) that the account typically receives, that is a sign one might have been shadow banned. One method Instagram accounts are using is creating a post with a hashtag and having friends search the hashtag to see if the account’s post appears.

Social media networks allege that they use the technique of shadow banning to discourage users who have been banned from creating a new account to continue their behavior.

Why would your account be shadow banned?

You may post too many things too quickly. You may follow or unfollow too many accounts in a short period of time. You might use hashtags that have been removed by the network because they have become affiliated with inappropriate content, or you may just be reported too often by other accounts for what you post.

But now, you could also have a political opinion that the social network just doesn’t agree with.

Facebook is notorious for using fact-checking services on their platform in an attempt to prevent the spread of fake or biased sources, trolls, and other unwanted behavior. Snopes, one of the largest fact-checking entities being used by Facebook, has the ability to mark stories on the site as true or false.

For example, if one were to search for stories on a certain topic on Facebook, they may see an alert on their screen that reads something like: “Mixture Rating on Content Shared by …”. The alert will have a link to the article that received a “mixture rating” while also providing an article written by the fact-checker for the consumer to read instead.

A Potential Breach of Constitutional Rights

This method of “fact-checking” has opened the door for these sites to push their own pieces by their own authors with their own views rather than something written by a small news outlet or an outlet that is known for having a political affiliation.

The problem many people seem to have with fact-checkers using shadow banning tendencies is that they believe sites like Snopes serve a political agenda and like to censor posts that disagree with their views.

If there is any truth to the allegations that social media platforms are shadow banning or censoring users for their political views, then we have a serious breach of our First Amendment rights to free speech.

Social media outlets need to become more transparent with their algorithms. The public should be able to see exactly what it is that is keeping their posts from being seen. The networks need to be held accountable for any tampering that could be occurring, especially if their actions are infringing on the public’s First Amendment rights.

