Joseph Sabino Mistick: An American Colosseum

In 2017, when Facebook allowed users to react to articles with an “angry” emoji in addition to “like” and other symbols, the change was good for business. The option to express anger kept more users engaged on the social media site.

But when Facebook gave more weight to “angry” reactions, posts that were toxic and just flat wrong were placed more prominently and spread widely.

As Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen told British Parliament last week, “Anger and hate is the easiest way to grow on Facebook. The current system is biased towards bad actors and people who push people to the extremes.”

None of this started with Facebook. For four centuries, Roman emperors effectively used the Colosseum as an outlet for the anger and resentment of the populace. Cheering spectators demanded satisfaction — in those days it was often death — when those who violated their standards entered the arena.

Now we have an American Colosseum. If you ever slip into the arena of public debate on social media, you quickly learn that disagreeing with the amorphous mob that thrives on anger quickly brings on vulgar insults and threats of violence to you and your family. Beyond Facebook, some sites specialize in anger and hate and do nothing to hide it.

Some people feel free to say whatever they want as coarsely as they choose, and the connection between hate speech and violence cannot be denied. Before the gunman entered a Pittsburgh synagogue and murdered 11 worshippers three years ago, he had an active online life and openly shared his venom, even announcing his murderous intent.

Al Schmidt, the Republican Philadelphia City commissioner who is responsible for counting the vote there, told a Senate committee last week he has received death threats for his refusal to endorse the big lie that the presidential election was stolen in Pennsylvania.

Schmidt’s home address has been published, along with the names of his children. One message told him to “tell the truth or your three kids will be fatally shot.” He was warned of “heads on spikes” and told that “cops can’t help you.”

Other election officials told similar stories. Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs testified that during the vote tally “armed protesters gathered outside my home and chanted, ‘Katie, come out and play. We are watching you.’ ”

But as the traitors who violently attacked our Capitol on Jan. 6 are finding out, social media works both ways. Their threatening posts are now evidence in their own criminal prosecutions.

An even bigger surprise comes when they are sued civilly, as the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who marched on Charlottesville, Va., in 2017, have discovered. Fittingly, they are being sued under the anti-terrorist Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, and their trial, which began last week, will feature their social media posts.

It already has taken a toll. Defendant Richard Spencer has called the litigation “financially crippling.” Other defendants have been fined tens of thousands of dollars and faced default judgments. And, when prosecuted or sued, some have walked back their anger and hate.

They are beginning to realize that words can be used against them, too. And the most powerful words that have them on the run are “see you in court.”