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Gatekeeping

Someone decides what you see. That used to be an editor. Now it's an algorithm — and it doesn't answer to anyone.

Gatekeeping is control over what information reaches the public. For most of modern history, this power belonged to newspaper editors, TV producers, and publishers. They chose what made the front page and what got buried. You only knew what they let through.

The internet was supposed to change that. And it did — briefly. Suddenly anyone could publish, share, and reach millions. But that flood of information created a new problem: you can't read everything. So platforms built algorithms to filter it for you. The gatekeepers didn't disappear. They were replaced by code. And that code optimizes for one thing: engagement. Not truth. Not importance. Engagement.

The old gatekeepers had biases, but they were human and visible. You could name them, pressure them, hold them accountable. An algorithm has no name, no editor's desk, no letters page. It quietly decides what you see based on what keeps you scrolling, and it does this billions of times a day for billions of people.

You feel like you're choosing what to read. But the menu was already curated before you opened the app. The gate is still there. You just can't see it anymore.

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