The words “echo chamber”  refer to the dependence many have on surrounding themselves with people who agree with them. This is not only restricting and irresponsible, but polarizing and openly damaging to the political climate. Both sides of the political spectrum fall victim to this, with varying degrees of success, and the effects are widely felt. In such an environment, each side’s views become deeply rooted in their identity, making a disagreement into an assault of one’s character.

It is only through healthy discussion among differing parties that real change can happen. Sadly, this is not effectively happening in our society today. With censorship being applauded on platforms including Twitter and Youtube, many find it hard, or in some cases dangerous, to voice their views. With Twitter this is apparent in their “shadowbanning” of content, which is when  certain accounts can not be found by searching them. This essentially means that the platform is restricting access to many accounts that show views differing from those of the platform.

In Youtube’s case, the main contender for censorship and restriction is through the action of demonetization of videos, meaning the creator cannot make money from its views. This demonetization effectively ostracizes many political users, and in some cases might lead to the channel ending due to the lack of profit. In both cases, such censorship might make people secure in their opinions in the short term, but it ultimately polarizes its’ viewers ideologies, and makes them incapable of properly understanding an opposing person’s view.