One of the factors that led to the Rwandan genocide was the broadcast of the RLTM radio station

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_genocide#Radio_station...

The radio didn't create the divide, and it wasn't the sole factor in the genocide, but it engrained in the population a sense of urgency in eliminating the Tutsi, along with a stream of what was mostly fake news to show that the other side is already commiting the atrocities against Hutus

When the genocide happened, it was fast and widespread: people would start killing their own neighbors at scale. In 100 days, a million people were killed.

The trouble with social media is that they somehow managed to shield themselves from the legal repercussions of heavily promoting content similar to what RTLM broadcast. For example, see the role of Facebook and its algorithmic feed in the genocide in Myanmar

https://systemicjustice.org/article/facebook-and-genocide-ho...

It's insane that they can get away with it.

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scarface_74 2 days ago | parent [-]

And there wasn’t a history of genocide of other before then? Hitler in Germany and the mass murder in Tulsa in 1921 didn’t need social media.

History has shown people don’t need a reason to hate and commit violence against others.

	▲	macintux 2 days ago \| parent \| next [-]
		People don’t need guns to kill, either, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t make for more effective weapons.
	▲	ants_everywhere 2 days ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I think you're underestimating the role deliberate propaganda has played in mass murder. Propaganda and ideology were a major part of the Nazi rise to power. Marx, Engels, and Mussolini were all in the newspaper business. Jean-Paul Marat's newspaper was very influential in promoting the French reign of terror, including some claiming he's directly responsible for the September Massacres. Nationwide propaganda were major priorities day one to Lenin and after him in Soviet Russia. Similarly with the Cambodian genocide, Great Leap Forward, Holodomor, etc. Propaganda even played a big role in Julias Caesar's campaign against the Gauls some 2 millenia before social media.