One upshot was Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which to this day insulates social media from legal liability for the content — however incendiary or scurrilous — that users post.

What this means for users is that the platform is always biased, showing you what they want you to see, nothing more, and nothing less.

From March, under the Online Safety Act, which passed in October, social media platforms will be obliged to to take "proportionate measures" to protect users from illegal content.

Social media posts touted wild conspiracies about the fire, with users sharing misleading videos and misidentifying innocent people as looters.

TikTok users have chosen the melodramatic chorus to soundtrack their romantic declarations.