[An image of social media apps. Photo Credit to Pixabay]

During a debate on July 21, 2025, a man identified as Connor sparked outrage after praising Nazi theorist Carl Schmitt, minimizing the Holocaust as involving only a “little” bit of persecution, and openly calling for the dismantling of the United States’ democratic system.

Following the event, Connor raised over $30,000 by claiming he had been fired because of his comments. 

The debate took place in a video posted by Jubilee, a media company known for its popular series “Surrounded” and other discussion-based content.

In the video, journalist and Oxford-educated commentator Mehdi Hasan was seated with far-right conservatives for a conversation.

After Hasan claimed that Donald Trump has been “defying the Constitution,” Connor was quick to grab the seat and began the conversation. 

The roughly seven minutes long debate featured Connor rebuking democracy and calling for an autocratic government as a substitute. 

He repeatedly praised Schmitt, a Nazi political theorist, and at the same time diminished the scale of Jewish persecution during World War II.

When Hasan asked directly if he identified himself as a fascist, Connor responded without hesitation: “Yes.”

Jubilee has long been criticized for providing extremists with a platform and amplifying misinformation under the guise of debate.

Critics argue that the company’s programming style feeds into the polarization already entrenched in American political discourse.

Unfortunately, social media is not designed to spread accurate information; rather it is designed to make profit. 

Social media platforms earn most of their revenue from advertisers.

Algorithms are engineered to maximize user engagement and screen time.

Content that provokes strong reactions, whether accurate or not, is prioritized.

This dynamic creates feedback loops where users are continually shown content that matches their existing views.

While these feedback loops negatively impact individuals and society in general, social media companies have little real incentive to moderate misinformation.

At the same time, content creators are driven to post increasingly extreme material to boost engagement and ad revenue.

Content moderation has become a particulary sensitive topic.

Tech leaders such as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have stripped back on content regulation policies, framing them as biased censorship.

Zuckerberg, in a video post on Facebook, argued that "Fact checkers have been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they've created,” before announcing their removal from Facebook.

Disappearing moderation aligns with President Trump’s agenda of “Restoring free speech.” 

Although lucrative in the short term, experts warn that reducing oversight could have enduring consequences for democratic institutions and civic trust.

Polarization continues to grow in the United States.

A survey conducted in 2024 found that 90% of Republicans believed the country was heading in the wrong direction under the Biden Administration, and one-third of Republicans said violence might be necessary to "save" the United States.

This sentiment of justified wrongdoing already contributed to the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, when multiple police officers lost their lives.

Now, political tensions are intensifying further.

President Trump has urged Texas lawmakers to pursue redistricting to secure additional congressional seats, while California has threatened to respond in kind.

These retaliatory measures echo the partisan fractures that preceded the Civil War.