Technically, it is free; you do not have to spend any money to register an account on any social media site; you simply go to the site and quickly create an account and sign in; but, free does not only refer to monetary value; it also refers to freedom.

People are being booted off social media platforms left, right, and centre. The First Amendment shields citizens from government censorship in the United States, but social media platforms are owned by private enterprises that can regulate what people publish on their websites.

For example, Dr. Robert Malone, an American virologist and inventor of the MRNA technology, was booted from Twitter for making accusations by releasing a video claiming that the Pfizer vaccine caused more illness than it prevented, as well as problems in the vaccine trials. He had over 500,000 followers, demonstrating that if a social media platform deems a message to be misleading, they may easily remove you from their platform, regardless of the number of followers you have.

Factual statistics and evidence can be misrepresented on social media sites by banning the original poster or completely suppressing a term so that it does not appear in anyone’s feed.

Many experts predict that uncivil and deceptive online behaviour will continue, if not worsen, according to the Pew Research Centre. People are cynical and jaded about politics as a result of conspiracy theories, the abundance of information, and the hatred ingrained in it all conspiring to create chaos and confusion.