Freedom of speech is a part of the fundamental human right, but a cursory glance and many countries and how life is run there shows that far from it, freedom of speech is not a norm as it should be. The apps which also should guarantee freedom of speech also help to spread censorship. Make no mistake, there is a thin line between what should and should not be said online, and I believe the apps should have a bit of control what is said on their platform. What we see today though is quite the opposite of that, the apps take arbitrary control and spread what they feel and want to be heard and stifle whatever else it is that they don't agree with. That on its own gives so much power to a particular person or body which shouldn't be.
A very good example of this was seen last year during the revolutionary End Sars campaign that happened in Nigeria where a police unit were said to have begun to use their powers arbitrarily to extort from youths in the country and kill some. While the protests went round the country for the unit to be abolished, social media was an essential tool used by the youths of the country. Facebook and Instagram two of the biggest media platforms showed just why the social media platforms are what they are. At some point multiple users began to complain of their posts getting labeled and flagged as False news. Here is a news article detailing it;
In retrospect however, we already knew that the big boys take decisions on what's in it for them. It's the reason why when we see there are guys doing something about censorship it truly brings joy to my heart. There are a few good eggs in the vast ocean of rotten ones for sure, and my good one of pick has to be Status, a private messaging app I'm tipping to do really good.
Status comes with and gives their users ingrained anonymity. What this means is that users upon signing up on the app already have their identities cloaked with a 3-word phrase. The three word names are given to users to protect their privacy, and they allow users to be able to interact as they want without fear of being doxxed. Status also comes with an inbuilt wallet that allows users to store all their ERC-20 tokens. It’s one of the coolest features of Status to me; I can throw some crypto there and forget it which is the perfect form of hodling lol.
Another cool feature that Status comes with is their in-app browser that allows users to access Web 3 over 200 DApps. Still a much undervalued project right now and one who’s team is constantly working to innovate and get better. Having an app like Status guarantees users that they can share what they want in a safe space where they are sure they won’t be hounded for what they put out. While the censorship all around the world will keep growing, it is apps like Status that are doing something to make sure that humans still reserve their freedom to speak and say what they want in a safe space.
Check out the Status website to know more and download the app
https://status.im/
