Why I'm Not Leaving Meta (or the United States)

January 19, 2025

After one of the world's worst people bought Twitter a couple of years ago, a lot of people, especially left-leaning people, abandoned the platform. I, myself, have not been on Twitter in quite some time for this reason, but I frequently hear it referenced as, more or less, a wretched hive of scum and villainy. A platform that's only a step or two down from Truth Social, the platform owned by the king of "truth" himself: Donald Trump. A platform where you're not allowed to say anything Elon disagrees with and 'cisgender' is considered a slur.

A lot of people who abandoned Twitter ended up on Threads, which is my current favorite place to be a menace, and where I've met some really great people so far. Threads was basically created to be an alternative to Twitter, and it's doing that very successfully.

I'd like to take a second to point out that I was two full paragraphs into writing this before I remembered that we're supposed to call Twitter "X" now. However, I will not be calling it that even now that I've remembered. Musk deadnames his own transgender daughter, so I'm not going to respect his stupid affinity for the letter X. I think we've all pretty much silently agreed to keep referring to it as Twitter out of spite, and that's the only thing it will ever be to me.

Anyway, Threads is where I like to spend most of my social media time these days; and the rest of it is split between Facebook and Instagram. The problem being... all of these are part of the Meta family and therefore owned by Mark Zuckerberg, another one of the world's worst people. Now that Zuckerberg has made it quite clear that he's fully bending the knee and supporting our future dictator, it does become problematic and I totally understand that.

Now add in the fact that Meta platforms have removed fact-checking entirely, which he claims is to curb "censorship," and a lot of people have made the decision to leave Meta as well, in favor of newer platforms like Bluesky.

I know a lot of people are upset about this change, and I do get why it's upsetting to some, and I understand the decision some people have made to leave because of it. But I'm not doing that.

First of all, I'm not actually expecting to see much of a real change on Meta because of this. I understand that the reason for doing it is not cool, and all it represents is that Zuckerberg is bowing down to his conservative masters. But I view it as an empty gesture more than anything else. It's him basically saying "F you" to the left-leaning individuals on his platform the same way Musk did. Because we all know that the only "censorship" being curbed by the removal of fact-checking is the type that stops conservatives from being able to say whatever they want. Because facts 'have a liberal bias.' Also known as "The only ones lying are right-wingers and they're upset when they can't get away with it because everybody knows they're lying."

I saw a screenshot of a Facebook comment recently that said, "I'd rather receive false information and keep my conservative views then [sic] receive true information and follow a socialistic agenda."

WILD.

But sadly, very common to the reality we live in. There are still some conservatives who are so brainwashed they haven't seen the truth yet; but there are also plenty who have seen the truth and would simply rather be lied to than admit they've been wrong about anything.

This move by Zuckerberg is basically him signaling to these conservatives that he will do their bidding. Which is, for lack of a better word, shitty.

However, this move is really just him saying it out loud, when in reality, it's always been this way. I have rarely seen fact-checking actually being done on Meta. I've submitted reports on multiple posts that openly threatened rape, violence and death toward marginalized groups and individuals, and been told that they "don't violate the community standards." Meanwhile, myself and multiple other people I know personally have been put in 'Facebook jail' for having the audacity to say anything criticizing the only group of people they care about protecting: white men.

Which brings me to my second point and the main reason that I'm not going anywhere.

Meta is by far the biggest social media platform out there, especially when Facebook, Instagram, and Threads are all combined. The three of those, along with Twitter and TikTok, have been the majority of social media available to us for a long time. With Twitter being largely abandoned by the left a couple of years ago, and all the talk about TikTok being banned in the U.S., it doesn't leave much of a platform for our voices if we all leave Meta too.

And in my opinion, that's exactly what they're aiming for.

The TikTok saga is largely propaganda, but is still an important part of this moment in history. Trump himself started all this nonsense with an executive order way back in August 2020, and now that he's been re-elected, he's using it to his own advantage so he can claim to be the hero. He created the 'issue' four and a half years ago, and then when the Supreme Court -- which he packed with judges of his choosing -- follows through on banning it, he swoops in to have it 'restored' and takes all the credit. Similar to how he's taken credit for the 'ceasefire' in Gaza, despite not even being in office until tomorrow. Everyone seems to be bowing down hardcore to the upcoming dictator, whether it's out of true support or fear. I've never seen this level of subservience before, and it isn't fooling anybody.

TikTok was down for less than 24 hours before service was restored to the U.S. so Trump could take the credit for it. During its brief outage, there was a pop-up upon opening the app that name-dropped and credited him in advance; and after it was restored, a similar pop-up called it "a result of President Trump's efforts." That is absolutely insane and should scare everybody who realizes what's going on.

Honestly, TikTok will probably be banned again at some point, with them continuing to claim it's in the name of "national security" which many believe is a farce anyway. But right now, before Trump gets in office and starts doing, you know, Trump things, he needs things like this to falsely boost public opinion of him.

I've honestly never had a TikTok account -- I am notoriously slow in joining social media bandwagons -- so I can't comment too much on what it's like there or how important it is to keep the app around for the sake of actual content creation, but I do understand the claims people are making about their voices being silenced, especially because TikTok played a role in allowing Palestinians to share their message about what's going on there and spread news to other parts of the world. So while the ban doesn't or wouldn't necessarily affect me personally, I feel everyone's anger because those voices need to be heard.

Now with Meta making its announcement that they will stop fact-checking, in addition to the effort to ban TikTok, it's clear to me that they are trying to run us off of the platform -- and I won't give them that pleasure. If they make the place inhospitable for leftists and any left-leaning or queer-friendly person, getting us all to leave, then the only voices left to be amplified on their platform are their own. And as the largest platform out there, if the only voices on it are their own... well, then where do our voices get to be heard?

People are running to places like Bluesky because it's smaller and not owned by a billionaire... but the platform itself is small and the amplification is minimal. And mark my words, if it becomes popular enough for that amplification to increase, then they're going to come for it, too. They will keep running people away from every platform they can until there's nowhere left to run. They are trying to control what can and can't be said in the United States, which opinions can be heard and which can't.

They already control the mainstream media. Now they're trying to control social media. Because that's where we, the people, get to make our voices and opinions heard. That's what they don't want. Unless, of course, the people sharing their opinions are the people who agree with them.

So I am not going anywhere.

If you're a marginalized person, especially a queer or trans person, and you feel like your actual safety could be in danger by staying, then by all means, leave if you want to. Always do what's in your best interest, especially where safety is involved. But I'm not leaving the largest platform where my voice can be heard the loudest -- and I'll use it to speak up for you, too.

They will have to ban me before I will leave. And if they do, I'll just make another account and do it again. Hell, I might even get back on Twitter just to spite them.

If they're against censorship, let them prove it. I will test the boundaries of the 'free speech' they claim to want on their platforms. I will use their own platforms against them.

I'm sure I will eventually have an account on Bluesky as well -- I'm definitely not trying to knock the people who've gone over there. Some of them I enjoyed being in contact with on different Meta apps, so I'll be looking forward to reuniting with them whenever I have the mental energy to take on the task of creating an account on yet another app. Because when I do go over there, it will be an additional app for me, not a replacement.

It's a shame I can't do the same with a dual citizenship.

But just as with my determination to stay on Meta, I'm determined to stay where I currently live, as well. It definitely gets tempting to think about leaving. I have friends and family in other countries. It would be a huge financial struggle, but I could probably make it work. But the thing is: I don't want to leave and it would be unfair if I had to.

I don't love the United States overall. Even when you remove all the politics, the violently racist history, and all the other problematic things about it, I feel no emotional connection to this country at large. It's just... a place. But I do feel that emotional connection to the state, city, and local community I live in. As I wrote recently in a Facebook post about building community, its history is my history. Its ghosts are my family. I feel a connection to every person who's ever lived or died here. I love its local businesses, its unique neighborhoods, its artists and the full-sized murals they paint on the sides of the buildings. I love its historic and haunted buildings, its hidden gems, its unique flora and fauna. And of course, its weather. I was born here. I want to die here. I love traveling, but I get homesick after two weeks away. I receive positive energy from the very land. I will never feel like any other place is my home.

What I want more than anything is to make my community better for everybody.

If the people who want to make things better all end up leaving, who is left? Whose hands will this community be left in? And what happens to the people left behind, the ones who couldn't afford to leave because they didn't have the money and resources the slightly more privileged among us had? I'm not financially privileged, but I have connections in other countries, including my own mother and step-father, who I know would take me in if I needed them to. Not everyone has that, and those without connections or money probably wouldn't be able to leave if their lives depended on it. Which, sadly, might be the case for many of them.

Maybe someday there will come a point where I'll change my mind about this and wind up jumping ship, but I really hope that day doesn't come. You know how they say the captain always goes down with the ship? While I am definitely not actually the captain here, I still can't imagine abandoning my community in its time of need. Nobody gets left behind. I'm only getting out if we all get out, or if they literally force me out as a refugee.

In the words of Katniss Everdeen, "I'm going to stay right here and cause all kinds of trouble."

tags: social media, politics, united states, trump