It has been a stormy 24 hours on The Planet of the FANGs (aka Facebook, Amazon,  Netflix, Google).

Tuesday (February 26) saw Facebook and Twitter each hand out bans to high-profile and controversial far-right figures on both sides of the Atlantic. Reactions and events elsewhere suggest they may not do the companies much good.

In the US, Twitter evicted US activist Jacob Wohl. The decision was based on an interview Wohl gave to USA Today where he declared his intention to set up fake Twitter accounts to influence the vote in 2020’s US elections in favour of Donald Trump. That would be a clear and unacceptable breach of Twitter’s policies, the company said, as Jake was junked.

Wohl has been linked to an attempted smear campaign against Trump-Russia investigator Robert Mueller and has promoted a host of conspiracy theories. He’s also been the subject of fraud investigations.

In the UK, Facebook removed English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson (aka Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) from its main platform and its Instagram subsidiary.

Facebook’s explanation went beyond the procedural: “When ideas and opinions cross the line and amount to hate speech that may create an environment of intimidation and exclusion for certain groups in society – in some cases with potentially dangerous offline implications – we take action. Our public Community Standards state this sort of speech is not acceptable on Facebook – and when we become aware of it, we remove it as quickly as we can. Our rules also make clear that individuals and organisations that are engaged in ‘organised hate’ are not allowed on the platform and that praise or support for these figures and groups is also banned. This is true regardless of the ideology they espouse.

“Tommy Robinson’s Facebook Page has repeatedly broken these standards, posting material that uses dehumanising language and calls for violence targeted at Muslims. He has also behaved in ways that violate our policies around organised hate.”

The companies might have expected general praise for their moves and there was some. Robinson and Wohl have been the subjects of many complaints for a long time (and Twitter had previously banned Robinson in March 2018).

However, it was a British politician, Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader and Shadow Culture Secretary, who best captured the mood when commenting on Robinson: “Facebook’s actions have taken far too long and come far too late. The public interest demands an end to the laissez-faire approach to regulation.”

There was arguably worse to come.

Just as Facebook was arguing that it does – really, really does – act “as quickly as we can”, another blistering expose of its content management processes was published by The Verge.

It contains many disturbing accusations. For example, former moderators say they were exposed to a tide of so rebarbative content that they developed PTSD-like symptoms, while other colleagues got drawn towards the crazed conspiracy theories that rogue posts and videos promote.

The article makes Facebook’s continuing preference for outsourced moderation look deeply suspect, even careless and cheap. Employees at the Arizona contractor referenced in the Verge feature receive not that much more than minimum wage – whilst operating in working conditions that fall way below those offered to Facebook’s internal staff – and are repeatedly challenged by confusing and capricious rules.

Is that what Mark Zuckerberg meant when he promised to “fix” things more than a year ago?

Meanwhile, Twitter’s ability to control its platform once more came up for debate when last night a Republican politician and leading Trump supporter, Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, posted content that clearly appeared to threaten Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, on the eve of his testimony to the US House of Representatives.

Under pressure from senior DC players, Gaetz did delete the tweet and apologise but it hung around for several hours with Twitter remaining silent despite the furore that was rapidly building. The perpetrator was hardly an unticked nobody.

Who was minding the store? Or was the more cynical view right: was Twitter enjoying the surge in traffic which Gaetz’s comments delivered?

Cohen soon after allowed his extraordinary written testimony to appear online, in which he describes Trump as “a racist”, “a conman” and “a cheat” amid the details of his allegations.

The latest social media snafus – and they do capture the ‘situation normal’ part of the acronym – come at a particularly difficult political time for the FANGs generally.

Last week’s report from the UK’s Commons Culture Committee was coruscating. As noted, it even took the unusual step of discussing whether Facebook specifically may be liable under US RICO racketeering statutes. However, Theresa May’s Government remains, well, a little preoccupied with Brexit.

Yesterday, though, US lawmakers signaled that they are preparing to act. At the first technology-related meeting of a House committee since the Democrats took control, their legislative agenda began to take shape.

Frank Pallone, Representative for New Jersey and Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said, “We’ve been talking about it for years, yet nothing has been done to address the problem. It’s time that we move past the old model that protects the companies using our data and not the people.”

US press reports – and Pallone’s comments – suggest that the Democrat agenda will begin with personal privacy. Washington politicians have been carefully analysing and watching the roll-out of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.

Beyond that, Democrats also want to move more quickly on political issues, from the spread of fake news through to hate speech and other abuse intended to influence elections.

Obviously, there are a lot of coincidences here, but it does rather feel like that moment where the water gradually shifts from a simmer to a rolling boil – and it looks like the FANGs control over the gas is slipping.

Because, I almost forgot, also yesterday, the US Federal Trade Commission launched its first actions against posters of fake reviews on Amazon. When Robinson and Wohl got thrown off Facebook and Twitter, they could still – and in Wohl’s case did – head over to Google’s YouTube.

It has been a stormy 24 hours on The Planet of the FANGs (aka Facebook, Amazon,  Netflix, Google).

Tuesday (February 26) saw Facebook and Twitter each hand out bans to high-profile and controversial far-right figures on both sides of the Atlantic. Reactions and events elsewhere suggest they may not do the companies much good.

In the US, Twitter evicted US activist Jacob Wohl. The decision was based on an interview Wohl gave to USA Today where he declared his intention to set up fake Twitter accounts to influence the vote in 2020’s US elections in favour of Donald Trump. That would be a clear and unacceptable breach of Twitter’s policies, the company said, as Jake was junked.

Wohl has been linked to an attempted smear campaign against Trump-Russia investigator Robert Mueller and has promoted a host of conspiracy theories. He’s also been the subject of fraud investigations.

In the UK, Facebook removed English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson (aka Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) from its main platform and its Instagram subsidiary.

Facebook’s explanation went beyond the procedural: “When ideas and opinions cross the line and amount to hate speech that may create an environment of intimidation and exclusion for certain groups in society – in some cases with potentially dangerous offline implications – we take action. Our public Community Standards state this sort of speech is not acceptable on Facebook – and when we become aware of it, we remove it as quickly as we can. Our rules also make clear that individuals and organisations that are engaged in ‘organised hate’ are not allowed on the platform and that praise or support for these figures and groups is also banned. This is true regardless of the ideology they espouse.

“Tommy Robinson’s Facebook Page has repeatedly broken these standards, posting material that uses dehumanising language and calls for violence targeted at Muslims. He has also behaved in ways that violate our policies around organised hate.”

The companies might have expected general praise for their moves and there was some. Robinson and Wohl have been the subjects of many complaints for a long time (and Twitter had previously banned Robinson in March 2018).

However, it was a British politician, Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader and Shadow Culture Secretary, who best captured the mood when commenting on Robinson: “Facebook’s actions have taken far too long and come far too late. The public interest demands an end to the laissez-faire approach to regulation.”

There was arguably worse to come.

Just as Facebook was arguing that it does – really, really does – act “as quickly as we can”, another blistering expose of its content management processes was published by The Verge.

It contains many disturbing accusations. For example, former moderators say they were exposed to a tide of so rebarbative content that they developed PTSD-like symptoms, while other colleagues got drawn towards the crazed conspiracy theories that rogue posts and videos promote.

The article makes Facebook’s continuing preference for outsourced moderation look deeply suspect, even careless and cheap. Employees at the Arizona contractor referenced in the Verge feature receive not that much more than minimum wage – whilst operating in working conditions that fall way below those offered to Facebook’s internal staff – and are repeatedly challenged by confusing and capricious rules.

Is that what Mark Zuckerberg meant when he promised to “fix” things more than a year ago?

Meanwhile, Twitter’s ability to control its platform once more came up for debate when last night a Republican politician and leading Trump supporter, Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, posted content that clearly appeared to threaten Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, on the eve of his testimony to the US House of Representatives.

Under pressure from senior DC players, Gaetz did delete the tweet and apologise but it hung around for several hours with Twitter remaining silent despite the furore that was rapidly building. The perpetrator was hardly an unticked nobody.

Who was minding the store? Or was the more cynical view right: was Twitter enjoying the surge in traffic which Gaetz’s comments delivered?

Cohen soon after allowed his extraordinary written testimony to appear online, in which he describes Trump as “a racist”, “a conman” and “a cheat” amid the details of his allegations.

The latest social media snafus – and they do capture the ‘situation normal’ part of the acronym – come at a particularly difficult political time for the FANGs generally.

Last week’s report from the UK’s Commons Culture Committee was coruscating. As noted, it even took the unusual step of discussing whether Facebook specifically may be liable under US RICO racketeering statutes. However, Theresa May’s Government remains, well, a little preoccupied with Brexit.

Yesterday, though, US lawmakers signaled that they are preparing to act. At the first technology-related meeting of a House committee since the Democrats took control, their legislative agenda began to take shape.

Frank Pallone, Representative for New Jersey and Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said, “We’ve been talking about it for years, yet nothing has been done to address the problem. It’s time that we move past the old model that protects the companies using our data and not the people.”

US press reports – and Pallone’s comments – suggest that the Democrat agenda will begin with personal privacy. Washington politicians have been carefully analysing and watching the roll-out of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.

Beyond that, Democrats also want to move more quickly on political issues, from the spread of fake news through to hate speech and other abuse intended to influence elections.

Obviously, there are a lot of coincidences here, but it does rather feel like that moment where the water gradually shifts from a simmer to a rolling boil – and it looks like the FANGs control over the gas is slipping.

Because, I almost forgot, also yesterday, the US Federal Trade Commission launched its first actions against posters of fake reviews on Amazon. When Robinson and Wohl got thrown off Facebook and Twitter, they could still – and in Wohl’s case did – head over to Google’s YouTube.