Donald Trump’s Elon Musk, Meta and TikTookay ‘poisonous morons love-in’ has one apparent flaw

EXCLUSIVE: Donald Trump will become the 47th President of the US today, which will also mark the next step of the ‘brofication’ of social media. We speak to a tech founder to find out more

A social media founder expressed grave concerns over a digital ‘MAGA makeover’ as tech bros worship ‘new idol’ Donald Trump.

Today (20 January) sets a new trajectory for the globe as controversial Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 47th President of the US, with Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, X’s Elon Musk and even ByteDance (TikTok) CEO Shou Zi Chew in tow.

The three leading social media giants have dominoed into marching order behind Trump; with South African tech billionaire Musk setting the precedent after backing the presidential bid and is now primed to land a spot in the new administration as the lead of Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).

Facebook founder Zuckerberg has followed the lead by announcing the end of ‘fact checking’ and will instead rely on community notes, which was pioneered by Musk’s new age of Twitter (X). Some have accused Zuckerberg of “cosying up” to the Trump administration with this move, along with the $1m (£786,000) donation to the inauguration fund.

This peeling back of ‘restrictions’ has been penned as a priority of “free speech” for the Meta platforms, Instagram, Facebook and Threads, which opens the floor to derogatory comments about sexuality, gender and religion.

And in the latest move of the social media ‘bros’ to follow suit is Shou Zi Chew, the TikTok CEO, who has praised Trump for “his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States” – despite Trump being the one to initially request the ban back in 2020 towards the end of his last presidential term.

To cement their support for Trump, all three social media platform giants are expected to be present at Trump’s inauguration at Washington D.C.

However, what does the – what we are calling – ‘brofication’ of the social media landscape mean for the millions of people worldwide. We spoke to a fellow social media founder, Olivia De Ramus of women’s only platform Communia, who fears that we have reached a ‘boiling point’ that will see the the online world get a ‘MAGA makeover’.

De Ramus claims that, historically, social platforms have been birthed from misogynistic attitudes meaning we are in the ‘coming of age’ era of an “increasingly toxic, over complicated, and inherently flawed digital world.”

Speaking exclusively to Daily Star, De Ramus alleged: “There are two basic truths about social media that, until now, have been mostly brushed over.

“Firstly, the everyday person’s interests have never been aligned with those of big tech because we have always been the product. As the product, our attention and minds are exploited and manipulated.

“That is universally the case for every social media user on a platform with an ads based business model.

“The second truth is that the majority of big tech social platforms were created from a basis of misogyny. The most famous example is that of Mark Zuckerberg’s original goal with Facebook, of rating how hot the women were in his university.

“Unfortunately, there are many more, like the Snapchat’s founder’s leaked emails in 2014 in which he talked about getting ‘frigid’ girls as drunk as possible. Is it a wonder then that the app he created during that time was focused on disappearing photos and messages?

“A basis of misogyny has always been present, reflected in how these companies operate, their products, and even the actual code written. Those two truths combined have created an increasingly toxic, over complicated, and inherently flawed digital world we are unfortunately hooked on as we become an increasingly isolated society.”

De Ramus started Communia in 2019 after the #MeToo movement where women speaking up about sexual assault or harassment, started to gain traction. As a survivor herself, the tech founder realised there was a space in the market for a women’s only social media platform that provides a safe space for women to communicate away from the digital noise of elsewhere.

Despite western society generally becoming more equal for men and women, there has noticeably been a ‘shift’ with the ‘broifcation’ of social media headed by their founders.

Only recently, Zuckerberg noted that the workplace needs more “masculine energy” and will be rolling back DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) measures at Meta. And the New York Times and Vanity Fair have penned his physical and business transformation as a “MAGA makeover.”

Upon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, the ISD (Institute of for Strategic Dialogue) found that the average number of newly created accounts following their list of “known misogynistic and abusive channels jumped to an average of 7,900 per day, an increase of 69% on pre-takeover baselines.” Under his X reign, Musk also reinstated self-proclaimed ‘misogynist’ Andrew Tate’s account after Twitter had banned him due to his inflammatory posts on women.

De Ramus, who has been building the social media ‘safe space’ away from this, believes that Zuckerberg is trying to “copy” Musk as he “didn’t have the courage to do it first.2

The Communia founder continued: “Mark Zuckerberg’s latest comments – such as how workplaces need to be more ‘masculine’, his ‘MAGA makeover’, getting rid of fact checking, and now allowing women to be called ‘objects’ and ‘property’ on his platforms – aren’t showing us a new truth.

“That’s the type of leadership that has been behind these apps all along, Zuckerberg was just stupid enough to out himself publicly in his pandering to Donald Trump’s very specific worldview.

“When Elon Musk bought Twitter (now X), tech CEO’s like Zuckerberg were quoted saying that they were ‘interested’ in what would happen with Musk’s extreme roll back of trust and safety measures on the platform.

“It didn’t get a lot of coverage, but I knew then that we would eventually see Zuckerberg, in particular, try to copy him. He just didn’t have the courage to do it first.”

So what will the ramifications be for the uprising of the ‘tech bros’ pandering to the soon-to-be President Trump? De Ramus thinks nothing good for women, or the social media platforms run by the billionaires holding onto Trump’s pocket.

While De Ramus predicts that safety of women online will be comprised by a ‘MAGA takeover’, with some supporters peddling the disturbing ‘your body, my choice’ narrative last year, she thinks that Meta, X and even eventually TikTok could be shooting themselves in the foot.

The tech founder revealed that women are the “most powerful consumer group advertisers spend on to access” as they are the majority of tech consumers.

She believes that women will start to reject the three powers of social media as misogyny begins to rise, meaning not only losing the majority of consumers but will also turn men off – as De Ramus shared men want to go where women are.

Despite making a name for herself in the male dominated tech industry, the tech founder fears that women – and businesses like her own – will be ‘drowned out’ by tech bro’s ‘new idol’ Trump.

De Ramus concluded: “I started building Communia, a safe and healthy social network for women, as a #MeToo survivor with a background in international relations.

“With that context even back in 2019, it was always clear to me how we were heading towards a boiling point when it came to social media, societal wellbeing, and the basic safety of women and young girls online.

“But make no mistake, this dynamic does not need to exist.

“I believe we can create new social platforms that do things completely differently, specifically with business models that don’t sell user data.

“Otherwise, we will never get to a point where social media companies will consistently put their user’s safety first and stop dragging their feet on timely safety requirements.

“That total commitment to user safety is central to Communia’s difference and part of why we get so much push back from the tech industry’s old guard.

“We also more broadly advocate for tech companies like Meta to realise that neglecting their responsibility to women’s safety isn’t just wrong, but a bad business move for their ads based model, too.

“We’re doing a great job providing a safe space for women with a business model based on adding value and creator empowerment, but the tech bros have a new idol…

“His name is Donald Trump, and I’m afraid he’s going to drown us all out.”