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In New York City, be careful what you post on social media. The New York Police Department (NYPD) has been emboldened to hit back against its detractors and perceived enemies. It started with an escalation of the type of rhetoric being used across social media, and now includes what can only be described as veiled threats of intimidation and retribution.
In some cases, NYPD police chiefs are going on social media in order to post inflammatory content about specific judges, lawyers, or politicians. In other cases, they are hitting back against protesters and journalists who might have criticized them in the past. And, as a way of glossing over some of its worst excesses, the NYPD is now embracing YouTube as a way to produce what can only be described as slick propaganda videos.
What’s causing this?
Quite frankly, it sounds like a scene out of a really bad Hollywood movie. Everyone has seen a movie about the rogue cop (or group of rogue cops) who goes too far, but in this case, it seems like the entire NYPD is in on it. It’s gotten so bad, in fact, that even Mayor Eric Adams – a former cop himself – seems to be supporting this new, in-your-face approach to social media.
So what’s behind this disturbing development? It’s easy to point to hot-button topics in the city right now – such as the new problems being caused in New York City by the massive influx of undocumented immigrants, or the rise in violent protests linked to the ongoing war in Gaza.
But there might be an easier explanation: the NYPD has decided that “misinformation” is a fantastic excuse to go after its enemies. As the NYPD sees it, they are not attempting to stifle dissent or intimidate their critics. Instead, they are simply attempting to crack down on rampant misinformation. As one NYPD spokesperson said, “We want to go on social media and push back on the misinformation out there.”
The fake news and misinformation culture
If this sounds familiar, it’s because it is. This is the same excuse that the Republicans use to go after the Democrats, and the same excuse that the Democrats use to go after the Republicans. All you have to do is claim “fake news” or “misinformation,” and you suddenly have a very valid reason to shut down your opponents on social media. Even if you don’t manage to get someone censored or banned, you can at least demonetize them, which is arguably just as effective these days.
The problem is that society has become so desensitized to social media outrage (both real and imagined) that it all seems to be par for the course these days. Yet, it’s downright dangerous when one of the most trusted institutions in society – the local police department – now views threats and intimidation as an appropriate way to engage on social media. It’s hard to think that everything is OK when the police have stopped investigating the criminals, and have instead started to investigate everyday citizens for things they might (or might not) have said.
The role of the algorithm
Things are not going to get better if we simply let the algorithms continue to run social media. The whole point of these algorithms is to push all the mean, nasty, inflammatory content right to the top. That’s the way you get clicks, likes, and comments. And, so, you can be guaranteed that inflammatory content from police officers directed against politicians, judges and journalists is going to be solid gold for these algorithms.
Which is to say: We may not be able to change society, but we can certainly change the algorithms. It’s time we have a broader debate in society about what gets put into these algorithms, so that we know what will come out. The last thing we want is violence in the streets as a result of all this confrontation happening online.
