What counts as 'platforming'?

It comes down to who's calling the shots

Tucker Carlson, who was fired from FOX News a couple weeks ago (time flies!), has announced that he will now be broadcasting a show on Twitter. In other words, Twitter is giving him a platform to spread his abhorrent, fascist views.

I would consider this to be “platforming” — a term and practice that’s often a point of contention, in particular among the Left. In a world where fascists roam free, those in the media who let them spread their racist, transphobic, misogynistic views unchecked are a huge part of the problem.

Twitter, from what we can tell for now at least, is giving Carlson a place to do and say more or less whatever he wants, on his own terms. I don’t think anyone would disagree this counts as platforming, whether you agree with Twitter doing it or not.

Now where it gets trickier, in my opinion, is the question of whether or not inviting a politician on your own show counts as platforming. And my take on it is — it depends. A show could invite a far-right figure on and let them further their narrative to a new audience with little to no pushback or fact-checking.

But if a program has someone on — from the Left, Right, or anywhere in-between — to challenge them to (try to) defend their views, either through actual journalism (not just “softball” questions) or legitimate, critical debate, then I would argue they’re not platforming them. They are holding them accountable, which is something we need much more of in the media landscape.

Here’s a simple flowchart that I think helps determine what counts as platforming. You can either pretend that it looks much nicer, or that my 9-year-old daughter did it (she’d probably do it better than me, actually!).

I think in some cases, not having a figure on your platform or program at all may be the best choice, especially if the figure isn’t well-known or you won’t be able to (or won’t even try to) challenge their views or debunk their lies. If Hitler were around, should he be invited on shows to defend his views? I would say not. (I looked it up and bringing up Hitler is apparently called a Reductio ad hitlerum argument. But I think it’s a clear example here).

In many, if not most, cases it is possible to take someone who is generally well-known or influential and hold their feet to their fire (figuratively) by confronting them from an adversarial point of view. If you have a Kevin McCarthy on, and instead of just letting him peddle GOP talking points you actually challenge him on his record, his views, his agenda — through fact checking, critical questioning — then you are doing journalism. You aren’t giving them a platform to spread their lies, you’re holding them to account for it. The media should hold politicians and other public figures accountable, and this can be an effective way of doing so.

But what happens far too often, especially in the corporate mainstream media, is inviting politicians with a record of spreading falsehoods and promoting fascist ideology, and just letting them say what they want to say with little to no pushback. They are giving them a platform to further advance their narrative unchallenged. You’re handing them a megaphone and letting them say what they want. That’s platforming, and with democracy is on the line, it’s dangerous.

What is the line between who to ask or not ask on your media outlet? What is the line between hard-hitting but fair discourse challenging politicians who deal in hatred, corruption, and/or deception, and just letting a far-right fascist run roughshod over you? If you attack everything someone says, insult them, never let them finish a sentence, they might come out as looking like the victim.

I don’t think there are, or ever will be, easy answers to these questions. But except in extreme cases, I think having someone on to challenge them is better than letting them control the narrative. You’re only platforming them if you are handing over the controls of your platform to them. If not, you are holding the powerful accountable — which is something we desperately need.