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> It is incidental what actual facts were broadcast on Twitter, as they could just as easily have been broadcast on classic media.

What social media platform has "vast influence" whose content couldn't "just as easily have been broadcast on classic media"?

Really, it doesn't matter if something could have been broadcast on classic media, what matters is where the people's attention is focused. What they see will influence them, and what they see will be controlled by the platform they are paying attention to, which means whatever platform that is has influence.

Platforms use this influence all the time. They promote certain content over others in exchange for money for example. A platform everyone reads can spread a lie more effectively than a million websites no one is paying attention to can spread the truth. Your attention matters so much to these companies for a reason.

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To expand on this point, 18% of US voters say they get their political information from social media[1]. Even ignoring Twitters influence outside this group (which is significant because most journalists and politicians use it) it is pretty difficult to make the case that 18% of the voting public is insignificant.

[1] https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2020/07/30/americans-...