October 03, 2024
By Darwin Nercesian
I remember when the press was for the people, or at least they made an effort to seem like they were. As a kid growing up, the idea I could trust someone on television to report what was going on in the world around me wasn’t a foreign concept. Before this sounds like an introduction to the next Ron Burgandy installment, let me say that times have changed. Journalism has become less about delving deep into the dark corners of society to shed light on truth, and more about controlling the public narrative. However, we’ve also seen a big shift in how the news is delivered. The rise of the internet has seen social media evolve into a fundamental part of our daily lives. When we want more of a subject, we follow a page or set an alert. Over the years, some have traded in their monthly subscriptions for more immediate satisfaction, only to find it less satisfying. Social media has created digital dependency by tapping into a desire to consume things instantly despite what we might be force-fed.
While few recall the birth of social media in 1997 with the Six Degrees social network service website, and subsequent platforms Friendster and Myspace in 2002 and 2003, it was arguably the launch of Facebook in 2004 that saw the medium grow into the giant it has become. Since then, platforms such as YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram have all contributed to the wealth of physical therapists treating tech neck as we stare into the information abyss held right in the palm of our hand. Aside from speed, however, what is the driving force behind the constant scrolling and swiping?
To answer this, we must first understand the fall of traditional media. According to Gallop polls, 72% of Americans had a great deal or fair amount of trust in the mainstream media in 1976. That number steadily declined to 44% in 2004, with Facebook waiting in the wings as an alternative means of sharing the news. By 2023, Americans’ trust in the mainstream media had dropped to an all-time low of 32%, a figure propped up mostly by far-left sycophants punch drunk on the Kool-Aid while conservatives and independents had long since seen the writing on the wall. Many turned to social media as a source of news and information thinking they had the freedom to choose. This opened the door for individuals and independent outlets to share their trades, tutorials, and perspectives with anyone who would listen. Traditional print media, like Firearms News, proceeded cautiously, preserving the integrity and format of its content while using the internet and social media to engage with our audience daily, staying connected with real-time commentary not previously possible.
Established in 1946 as Shotgun News, Firearms News has been a beacon of the Second Amendment community for over three-quarters of a century, continuing the tradition by publishing twelve annual issues supplemented by daily content on FirearmsNews.com and across social media. The publication’s distinct voice and unwavering values, regarding Second Amendment news, scholarly historical firearms articles, and gun reviews, cemented a foundation that has earned the trust and support of dedicated readers, a following that has only grown in the digital era. The Firearms News Facebook page, launched in 2010, has become a top outdoors and Second Amendment news source, reaching almost 1 million followers by 2024. This sounds like content paradise, right? Shackles and limitations be damned, we can now communicate more freely than ever… not so fast.
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Whoever the villain and whatever the mechanism used to control the flow of information before social media, they weren’t just going to pack it up now that we had an alternative. Those in control tend only to tighten their grip, even if it means losing people’s trust, as witnessed with the mainstream media. Just like the music industry adapted to the digital age, so would the once analog Gestapo find a way to digitize its agenda. Over the years, we have seen conservative and pro-Second Amendment voices silenced across social media, with platforms removing content, suspending users, shadow banning, and ultimately deleting accounts altogether. For the uninitiated, shadow banning involves deliberate manipulation of algorithms to make content undiscoverable on a platform except by the person who posted it.
When Elon Musk purchased Twitter in 2022, his arrival preceded the release of what has become known as the Twitter Files, a treasure trove of documents demonstrating government coercion of the platform to silence news reports about the Hunter Biden laptop, COVID-19 vaccine cautions, and any commentary considered contrary to the sanitized agenda. Under Musk’s leadership, Twitter, now rebranded as X, better resembles the town square it was originally promoted as. Meanwhile, in the Metaverse, it’s business as usual, with Facebook and Instagram playing the role of digital brown shirt, dialing up the algorithm aggression late last year in concert with Google-owned video giant, YouTube, to target the firearms community causing an enormous loss of engagement. To put things into perspective, in 2023, Firearms News received over 456 million impressions on content posted to Facebook. By September 2024, engagement for the year had only reached approximately 34 million impressions, down almost 90%.
After months of continued harassment and false claims of community standards violations, the Zuckerberg cartel escalated attacks by unpublishing the Firearms News Facebook page entirely. Outdoor Sportsman Group, the largest media company devoted to America's 80 million+ outdoor sports enthusiasts, is the parent company of Firearms News and other renowned titles such as Guns & Ammo, Game & Fish, Bowhunter, Rifle Shooter, and television networks including Outdoor Channel, Sportsman Channel, and World Fishing Network. The company has spent millions of dollars advertising with Facebook over the years, however, it has not been afforded the opportunity to resolve the matter to any reasonable conclusion. This begs the question as to whether Facebook is a platform companies should feel secure investing their money and manpower in if it can be wiped out instantaneously without discourse or proper oversight. With transparency in mind, let’s look at community standards as they pertain to firearms content on the platform.
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From Facebook: “Attempts to buy, sell, or trade, firearms, firearm parts, ammunition, explosives, or lethal enhancements except when: posted by a Page, Group or Instagram profile representing legitimate brick-and-mortar entities, including retail businesses, websites, brands or government agencies (e.g. police department, fire department) or a private individual sharing content on behalf of legitimate brick-and-mortar entities. Attempts to donate or gift firearms, firearm parts, ammunition, explosives, or lethal enhancements except when posted in the following contexts: Donating, trading in or buying back firearms and ammunition by a Page, Group or Instagram profile representing legitimate brick-and-mortar entities, including retail businesses, websites, brands or government agencies, or a private individual sharing content on behalf of legitimate brick-and-mortar entities. An auction or raffle of firearms by legitimate brick-and-mortar entities, including retail businesses, government-affiliated organizations or non-profits, or private individuals affiliated with or sponsored by legitimate brick-and-mortar entities. Asks for firearms, firearm parts, ammunition, explosives, or lethal enhancements Sells, gifts, exchanges, transfers, coordinates, promotes (by which we mean speaks positively about, encourages the use of) or provides access to 3D printing or computer-aided manufacturing instructions for firearms or firearms parts regardless of context or poster. Attempts to buy, sell, or trade machine gun conversion devices” Firearms News does not deal in any firearms or related equipment. As a news organization, we sell subscriptions and ad space. Not a single condition listed has ever been violated on our Facebook page. What happens next would seem bizarre if we didn’t understand the true motivation behind Facebook’s actions. The platform deploys a maze of endless loops designed to avoid any accountability. First, it unpublishes your page and restricts accounts belonging to admins. When one of these admins contacts Facebook to resolve the issue, they are directed to use functions of the platform that their restricted account now prohibits them from using. Facebook then suggests another admin take point, knowing they have restricted all the admin accounts. When reminded, Facebook says to create a new admin account, then restricts that one. When you point out you have never violated any community standards, Facebook employees tell you to go over them once again. When you ask which standard you violated, they tell you they can’t say. When you ask who can tell you, they tell you they can’t give you that information either. Sometimes they blame it on faulty AI, seemingly an admission of error on Facebook’s part, but when you respond, “Great, so we can fix it?” they tell you they are unable to. And when you ask who might be able to, they tell you they can’t say. If you think that’s difficult to read, I assure you it’s even more difficult to write.
America’s enduring connection with firearms ownership is rooted in our heritage. It is a relationship that is never going away. Firearms owners are very much a self-policing community, with a tradition of educating new shooters of any age on the fundamentals of safety and responsible gun ownership. This is true for home defense, everyday carry, hunting, competition, or recreational shooting. The internet has presented us with the opportunity to educate larger audiences. Those who wish not to partake have the right to seek content more suitable to their interests, however, for those wanting to travel down that road, silencing the community’s most trusted resources is morally irresponsible. People don’t learn to communicate about subjects they don’t understand by being chastised for their pursuits. Stifling the free exchange of ideas puts us on a destructive path leading to a cascade of failures. It does not escape me that those failures may be the desired effect, with the goal being a larger power grab. If you think I need to adjust my tin foil, allow me to test your short-term memory by reminding you again of a little incident called COVID-19.
Social media deliberately alters our perception of the world, exploiting vulnerabilities in human psychology to create addiction. Individually curated echo chambers called “feeds” are designed to seduce a false sense that everyone agrees with you, placing the user in a suggestive state where they are easily manipulated into hours of doomscrolling, creating billions in advertising profit for tech giants. If you are not paying for the product, you are the product, and the gradual imperceptible change in your behavior is what’s really for sale. Social media is not a tool you use to connect, as tools lie dormant until they are meant to be used. Instead, it has its own goals as we are bombarded with updates and notifications designed to keep bringing us back. Social media demands every minute of our attention that it can get, making us the tools for their cash machine despite data that has proven this addiction leads to mental health issues such as feelings of loneliness, anxiety, and depression.
As successful as surveillance capitalism has become, it is no surprise this technology has been used to transform the information age into the disinformation age, where the truth is substituted for “your truth” and “my truth.” Cathy O’Neil, author of Weapons of Math Destruction, states, “Algorithms are opinions embedded in code.” They are not objective, and just as they are used to manipulate for profit, so are they used to manipulate for control. People are being fed alternate realities with only the illusion of choice, dividing society and creating an environment where we can no longer hear each other. With overwhelming control over human weakness, social media polarizes communities, parading out the worst in us and eroding societal fabric to the point that democracy, just as information, is for sale to the highest bidder.
While big tech would love to see the death of traditional publishing, the industry is experiencing a resurgence. According to recent surveys, books and magazines are very much alive, with 2021 launching 122 new print magazines in the United States alone. A revived interest in print has been attributed to the analog preferences of Gen Z readers, confirming our data which indicates a strong increase among men 18-35 years old. Another factor is inevitable digital fatigue likely accelerated by pandemic lockdowns and isolation. Advertisers take note also, as recent studies show consumers are far more likely to pay attention to and trust in the content of a print advertisement in contrast to online ads which are more often ignored or dismissed.
More importantly, print can’t be deleted. The only community standards it is subject to are yours, the reader. With limited space, print must be discerning, with articles and reviews that can’t be edited, deleted, or buried quickly in a barrage of hurried and unqualified content. It is a memorable dining experience compared to the internet’s bargain buffet. Blogs, online forums, and even social media platforms come and go. Think I’m wrong? I remember when there wasn’t an internet, and I’m not that old. I’ve seen more come and go in this short time than the few who have endured. In the case of Firearms News, we’ve been around since long before the World Wide Web, and we’ll be around when people say, “Yeah, I’ve heard of Facebook, did you have a profile back in the day?”
If you have any thoughts or comments on this article, we’d love to hear them. Email us at FirearmsNews@Outdoorsg.com .
