ELIJAH NOUVELAGE/REUTERS/NewscomIf Facebook is concerned about a growing chorus of accusations that the social media giant suppresses some voices and elevates others in accord with the company’s prevailing political biases, that’s not obvious in the firm’s latest purge of political pages and accounts.

On Thursday, October 11, Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s Head of Cybersecurity Policy and Oscar Rodriguez, Product Manager, announced the company was shutting down 559 pages and 251 accounts “created to stir up political debate.” Allegedly, the targets were guilty of “coordinated inauthentic behavior” intended “to mislead others about who they are, and what they are doing.” The targeted pages and accounts included many pages, and their administrators, who have gained popularity by voicing ideas outside the mainstream—including skepticism of violent and intrusive police tactics and support for libertarian ideas.

Now that Facebook has turned overtly hostile to independent groups, writes J.D. Tuccille, it’s time to move beyond the old social media giants and explore a broader, more decentralized world in which it will be harder to suppress voices that criticize the establishment.

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