Zack Beauchamp, in Vox:
There’s been a long-running debate among American political observers as to whether Trump can reasonably be described as a fascist. Between his increasingly fascist rhetoric and increasingly fascist second-term policy proposals, the debate should now be considered settled. A political leader who vows to destroy opponents he calls “vermin,” to weaponize the Justice Department against his critics, and to conduct political purges in the federal government is in fascist territory.
This is important no matter what, but you’re reading this in The Verge so here’s a tech angle: the big social platforms are facing a 2024 content-moderation nightmare. Emboldened by Elon Musk’s teardown of Twitter, they all want to pull back on moderation costs in various ways, but this election cycle will feature some of the most heated and dangerous rhetoric from a major party candidate any of us have ever experienced. It’s going to be incredibly messy all around.
