Roger-Luc Chayer (Image : AI generated / Gay Globe Media)
The Traditional Role of Journalists
Journalists have traditionally embodied the right to information, the oversight of public authorities, consumer-interest investigations, and freedom of the press, that fundamental freedom enabling the circulation of legitimate information within a verified, corroborated, and ethical framework.
The Impact of the Internet and Social Media
However, with the advent of the Internet and especially social media, this journalistic prerogative has gradually diluted, sometimes even evaporated, to the point of erasing what was once the professional benchmark in information dissemination.
What Exactly Are Social Media Platforms?
On a global scale, a few platforms still dominate the universe of social media, and their influence shows no signs of slowing. Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, and TikTok form the core. Each occupies a specific technological niche—from generalist networks where everything circulates, to platforms focused on video, images, or instant messaging.
Other platforms join this ecosystem, their importance varying by region. In China, WeChat holds a crucial place by combining messaging, social networking, payments, and daily services. Telegram rallies a committed community around structured exchanges, often privacy-focused. Snapchat retains its appeal with younger audiences thanks to ephemeral content. Messenger remains a natural complement to Facebook. Meanwhile, Reddit stands out by offering an open community organization structured around thematic forums where users directly participate in producing information and discussion.
What About LGBTQ+ Social Networks?
In today’s digital world, the LGBTQ+ community has several social networks designed specifically to foster exchanges, meetings, and visibility. Grindr remains the most well-known: a geolocated platform allowing gay, bisexual, trans, and queer people to connect. Alongside it, Hornet positions itself as a structured social space combining discussions, posts, and international networking. ROMEO, another historic player, extends this dynamic by focusing on a community environment where users can socialize, share information, and organize meetings.
Newcomers have refined the model. Taimi adopts a broader approach offering communication tools and community membership features, while Lex establishes itself as a “queer social” network focused on interactions, bond creation, and event participation rather than strictly romantic meetings. Blued, particularly rooted in Asia, has gradually opened globally and now represents a large-scale network primarily aimed at gay or queer users.
The Problem Stems from the Democratization of Social Media
In my opinion, as a journalist-editor since 1993 and former president of the Montreal chapter of the Canadian Association of Journalists, the problem related to news circulation comes directly from the democratization of social media. These platforms have opened the door to any kind of content, any rumor or false news, often spread by people without expertise, who simply broadcast their prejudices far and wide. Millions of such examples occur daily.
In the past, any eccentric individual could send a letter to the letters-to-the-editor section of a media outlet, contact a journalist, or call a newsroom to pass on information. It was then subject to a journalistic filter which ultimately decided whether to publish it or not.
These journalistic and media filters still exist, but they are drowned in an incalculable mass of fake media pursuing obscure agendas. The public, logically, no longer knows what to trust and often gets trapped by content that appears entirely legitimate.
How to Filter Information Circulating on Social Media?
Filtering the information circulating on social media has become a real challenge in a landscape saturated with all kinds of content. One must first develop a critical mindset and never take what one reads or sees at face value. Verifying the source, its history, and reputation is essential, as well as cross-checking information with several reliable media outlets. The speed at which fake news spreads demands constant vigilance. Without this filter, the risk of being swept away by biased or misleading narratives, which fuel confusion rather than understanding, is high.
The Chinese Example
Since October 2025, Chinese authorities have instituted a new rule stating that people commenting or giving opinions online, on social media or influence platforms, can no longer freely express themselves on sensitive topics—health, law, finance, education, etc.—unless they can justify formal qualifications, whether a university degree, professional license, or recognized certification. This measure was adopted by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the Internet regulatory body in China.
This example, both very bold and necessary, aims to clean the web and social media of the pollution circulating there.
Major platforms like Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok), Weibo, or Bilibili are now required to verify the credentials of content creators before publishing their posts on these so-called “sensitive” topics. Failure to comply may result in sanctions against the creator (account suspension or deletion) or the platform, with fines reaching up to 100,000 yuan (US $13,800).
The Australian Example
A proactive approach to social media issues has taken a decisive step in Australia, as a new law came into force today banning users under 16 from accessing social media platforms. This law imposes significant fines on platforms that fail to implement adequate measures to filter their subscribers and exclude those under 16.
When Rumors Kill…
Social media has had many negative effects on a wide range of issues, from denying human presence on the Moon, presenting airplane contrails as chemical spraying, claiming the Earth is flat, to asserting COVID vaccines are a means of controlling the population. I could multiply the examples.
The most harmful rumors targeting LGBTQ+ people have developed precisely because social media allow unfounded ideas to circulate as if legitimate. One of the most persistent is presenting sexual orientation or gender identity as a mental illness or transmissible pathology—a theory without any scientific basis that fuels fear.
Another particularly malicious rumor associates LGBTQ+ people with child predation, sometimes implying a desire to “recruit” or “convert” youth, an old narrative now resurfacing in new viral forms.
There is also the toxic idea that equality demands are merely a political tool funded by occult forces seeking to destabilize society. Finally, the notion that sexual and gender diversity is an “artificial” phenomenon imposed on the population rather than a human reality present across all societies and eras has circulated intensely, justifying calls for censorship and violence.
If one had to quickly conclude on these persistent rumors, one could easily say that social media sometimes propagate pure madness. Hence the importance, as I stressed earlier, of restoring a journalistic filter capable of separating falsehood from the global conversation.
I believe most democracies are generally ready to adopt such measures. However, the fear remains that content controls could become a pretext for censoring ideas and opinions. It will take some time to better assess the results of the Chinese example, as many confuse freedom of expression with the freedom to say absolutely anything. In the majority of democracies, freedom of expression means having the right to express oneself within the framework of the law, not without any limits. This is an important nuance.
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