When everyone's friend Tom Anderson launched MySpace and introduced a revolutionary concept-social media, the world changed. Unlike traditional chat rooms or website forums, users can now connect with friends, relatives, and strangers around the world in a new environment. MySpace began to shift from a privacy culture to a culture in which users show all aspects of their lives to everyone. Unbeknownst to our friend Tom, he created a monster that will one day become the most powerful form of communication and information sharing.

Facebook's original intention was relatively simple, to use the things created by MySpace to make a better user interface and experience. It didn't take long for Facebook's popularity to soar, and MySpace disappeared from existence. 

Over the next decade, algorithms were slowly introduced to cater to user interests and targeted advertising. These algorithms are specifically designed to allow users to stay longer on the platform by pooling content designed to generate emotional responses, thereby creating more engagement. The longer the user stays on the platform, the more ad impressions will be delivered and the more advertising revenue will be generated to fill Facebook's financial library. In a sense, these algorithms generate addictive reactions among users to maximize profits.

With the increase in user base, soaring engagement, and continuous influx of advertising revenue, Facebook became more and more powerful, and it didn't meet resistance until 2012. Before the 2012 election, social media was almost non-existent during the election process. Former President Barack Obama was the first political candidate to successfully use the power of social media. He delivered his message directly to the people and organized the community in an unprecedented way. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube suddenly found themselves the main forums for all political advertising and debate, and this trend will continue until the 2016 presidential election. 

After former President Donald Trump’s campaign took advantage of the same social media strategies and techniques Mr. Obama used in his successful campaigns in 2008 and 2012, social media giants became the focus of attention. Mr. Trump's Twitter account has the highest participation and attention of all political candidates on the platform, and it does set the tone for the daily news. Conservative influencers used this momentum to expand their followers to tens of millions and were able to cause surprises in the 2016 game with their support content.

Before that, all media, including social media, had overwhelmingly regarded Hillary Clinton as the next president. Mr. Trump's ability to use social media platforms to mobilize his base and strengthen his platform surprised the world and brought large technology companies to a turning point.

Shocked by the public shock of the 2016 election results, large technology companies launched a large-scale campaign to prevent similar results from happening again. Conservatives were singled out by large technology companies and de-monetized, banned for 30 days, or completely abolished the platform. Fact checking was introduced to cast doubt on content creators’ posts; even satirical memes were targeted, and content creators were subsequently banned. Big Tech's message is clear-they will not allow Mr. Trump and his supporters to use their platform to succeed again.

When the coronavirus emerges in 2020, the situation gets worse. Large technology companies quickly shut down any videos, comments, or articles that questioned the validity of CDC directives or recommendations. Many accounts find themselves banned for 30 days or their influence is severely limited because they share articles or opinions that run counter to the narrative promoted by the government and mainstream media.

Mr. Trump's failure in 2020 triggered a chain reaction, leading to a large-scale purge of conservative accounts, followers, and even his own de-platformization. The world has witnessed how powerful large technology companies have become—so powerful that they silenced an incumbent president and almost 80 million Americans.

Social media should be social. Changing the brand name to hide the past does not change the fact that social media companies and their users have a responsibility to protect the rights of freedom granted by God. Opinions should not be supervised or suppressed, information should flow freely, and there should be no bias in fact checking or manipulation of algorithms. People should be free. Opinion should be free. Information should be free. This is why we created FreeSpace Social, an app designed to give users freedom again, just as they should. 

• Jon Willis and Jaco Booyens are the co-founders of FreeSpace Social.

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