Free Republic

The free speech social media platform Parler is calling for “Twexit” — a mass exodus of Twitter users — in its recently issued tech “Declaration of Independence” and “Bill of Rights,” in which it takes a stand against acts of censorship and data abuse by Silicon Valley giants like Twitter and Facebook. Parler said this week that Silicon Valley “technofascism” is threatening Internet freedoms as companies crack down on speech they don’t like and engage in acts of censorship and blacklisting. “Twitter long ceased to be a public square. They are now merely a publisher. And a bad, biased publisher...

There seems to be a new memo out, withing the last 24 hours, to all the Leftist trolls who are assigned to harass Conservatives on the various news sites and blogs, like Newsmax, and social blogs covered by Discus. Suddenly, all the trolls are threatening that they DEMAND that the IP of every Conservative who triggers them, "threatens" them, micro-agresses the Left, be released to the DoJ, (Lord help us), so that legal action can be taken.The same DoJ that won't stop cities from being burned, but... A word to the wise. Is it for real? Hellifino. I believe it...

Recent Nationwide Protests Show the Importance of Allowing Peaceful Public Assembly The Department of Justice today filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in support of a lawsuit by plaintiffs Ron Givens and Christine Bish, two individuals seeking to hold peaceful in-person protests of 500 to 1,000 people with social distancing on the grounds of the California State Capitol Building.In its friend-of-the-court brief in the Ninth Circuit, the United States explains that the district court wrongly denied plaintiffs’ request for injunctive relief against California’s total ban on peaceful protests.  While States have...

Reforms Strike Balance of Protecting Citizens While Preserving Online Innovation and Free Speech The Department of Justice released today a set of reform proposals to update the outdated immunity for online platforms under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996.  Responding to bipartisan concerns about the scope of 230 immunity, the department identified a set of concrete reform proposals to provide stronger incentives for online platforms to address illicit material on their services while continuing to foster innovation and free speech.  The department’s findings are available here. “When it comes to issues of public safety, the government is the...

Increasingly, we see people holding unpopular views being attacked and refused a forum in which to speak. Through the threat of force and censorship to control people's speech, free speech is under full assault. History is replete with others using similar tactics. As in the times before the Nazi rise to power, the Soviet gulag era, and Mao's revolution, similar trends are prevalent today. Freedom of speech is engaging in unrestricted speaking of one's mind without fear of retaliation or censorship. It is the freedom to use one's natural rights to engage in complex thought and speech. This is not...

New York (CNN Business) Facebook on Thursday said it had take action against ads run by President Trump's re-election campaign for breaching its policies on hate. The ads, which attacked what the Trump campaign described as "Dangerous MOBS of far-left groups," featured an upside-down triangle. The Anti-Defamation League said Thursday the triangle "is practically identical to that used by the Nazi regime to classify political prisoners in concentration camps."

Earlier this month, a Twitter account called We See What You're Doing posted a screenshot of a Northeastern School District principal's personal Facebook page, which shared a video saying that Black Lives Matter is a "leftist lie." The post asked Shallow Brook Intermediate School Principal Scott D'Orazio why he didn't tweet it from his school. It tagged the intermediate school's Twitter account. Now his job is on the line. The district administration, which includes Supt. Stacey Sidle, recommended his firing during a school board meeting on Monday night. District officials allege D'Orazio acted outside of his authority by deleting the...

We’ve reached a breaking point with cancel culture. We’ve seen extremists topple and deface historic statues of Christopher Columbus and Sir Winston Churchill. Thousands have signed a petition to remove a statue in Boston featuring Lincoln and a freed slave. Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben are now canceled. Cancel culture has come for the children’s show “Paw Patrol.” They tried to cancel Domino’s Pizza simply for tweeting thanks to White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany 8 years ago for a compliment she tweeted at them. Next on the list will be classic shows like Seinfeld, characters like Barney Fife, and...

NBC News reporter Adele-Momoko Fraser thanked two foreign non-profit organizations for their “collaboration” in urging Google to demonetize The Federalist, a respected conservative American news website, on Tuesday. NEW — from @NBC_VC. Thanks to @SFFakeNews and @CCDHate for their hard work and collaboration! https://t.co/dorhdZy1t1 — Adele-Momoko Fraser (@AMFraserNBC) June 16, 2020 The Federalist is a conservative news and opinion site that features, among others, Fox News contributor Mollie Hemingway. Zero Hedge, another site targeted by the groups, is a blog featuring commentary on politics and economics. Fraser broke the story that Google allegedly “banned two far-right [sic] websites from its...

The Justice Department is set to propose a roll back of legal protections that online platforms have enjoyed for more than two decades, in an effort to make tech companies more responsible in how they police their content, according to a Trump administration official. The department’s proposed reforms, to be announced as soon as Wednesday, are designed to spur online platforms to be more aggressive in addressing illicit and harmful conduct on their sites, and to be fairer and more consistent in their decisions to take down content they find objectionable, the official said. The Justice Department proposal is a...

In the war for social justice, academic freedom is an early casualty. Consider the plight of UCLA Accounting Professor Gordon Klein. A student sent Klein an email, screenshots of which were reviewed by Inside Higher Ed, that asked for "no-harm" grading for the final exam. (That term means counting a grade only if it improves a student's overall course grade.) The student also asked for shorter exams and extended deadlines for black students who attended protests after the death of George Floyd. Inside Higher Ed described the email as "a request from students who identified themselves as nonblack allies of...

IndyCar fired the series' flagman Thursday after he posted on Facebook that he was dismayed with NASCAR's recent decision to ban Confederate flags from its events. In a since-deleted Facebook post that was posted on Reddit, Brad Hockaday wrote, "Do these dips---- even understand what that flag stands for. I have lost all respect for NASCAR. I will no longer be supporting their sanction body." He also criticized NASCAR's decision to end the requirement for team members to stand during the National Anthem, to allow for kneeling.

In a letter appearing online Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan write that President Trump’s “divisive and incendiary rhetoric” has left them “deeply shaken and disgusted” in a volatile time that they say requires “unity” in the U.S. Writing under the letterhead of their Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which focuses on technology solutions to social problems, the couple were responding to last week’s call by more than 270 scientists that Facebook address what the scientists described as “misinformation” appearing on social media. A copy of the Chan-Zuckerberg letter was posted on Twitter by Recode journalist Teddy Schleifer.

Black Lives Matter isn’t interested in fighting actual racism. But it is interested in whether you support its agenda—and getting you fired if you don’t. There will be no opting out of the Black Lives Matter movement. You’re either for BLM or against it—and if you’re against it, you’re a racist. You will either support BLM publicly and enthusiastically, or you will be harassed, shunned, and shamed out of mainstream America. If you dare to speak a word against BLM, you will be targeted, mobbed, and probably fired.That’s the message coming through loud and clear, not just from protesters but...

The owners of Buckhead's OK Cafe sparked an uproar with a banner that carried a message in opposition to recent Black Lives Matter protests. Liberty House Restaurant Corporation operates OK Cafe, along with Blue Ridge Grill and Bones. Owners Susan DeRose and Richard Lewis hung the banner, which said "Lives That Matter Are Made With Positive Purpose," at OK Cafe so it would be on display during a protest march that passed by the restaurant over the weekend. OK Cafe also set up a refreshments table that offered tea and lemonade under a smaller "tea party" banner. The display was...

Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints quarterback, who has a charity that feeds the needy and helps sick kids, was berated until he apologized for his views about kneeling during the National Anthem: “I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country. Let me just tell what I see when the National Anthem is played. I envision my two grandfathers, who fought for this country during World War II, one in the Army and one in the Marine Corps. So every time I stand with my hand over my heart looking at...

It can happen in a moment of time. One ill-advised tweet. One poorly worded post. One foolish act in public. And that’s it. You are branded. You are marked. You are guilty. For life. Whatever good you’ve done in the past is forgotten, cancelled. However deep and sincere your apology, it will never be enough. You must carry the shame for the rest of your days. Away with you! Ben Howe, author of The Immoral Majority, recounts with horror how he helped spread the video posted by a 37-year-old man named Adam Smith. Smith thought he was doing a good...

Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly considering adding warning labels to Facebook posts penned by government leaders if they incite violence - less than a week after he criticized Twitter for doing the exact same thing. Vox obtained access to a video conference call between Zuckerberg and several of his Facebook employees Tuesday, during which he revealed he was toying with the idea. According to the publication, Zuckerberg also predicted that the United States could be entering a 'prolonged period of civil unrest', meaning that the company may 'alter its policies on what kind of announcements government leaders can make about state...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly told employees angered by the decision not to remove recent posts by President Donald Trump from the platform that the company may review its policies around the “discussion of state use of force,” potentially censoring President Trump and other world leaders. The Verge reports that social media giant Facebook has faced internal turmoil after CEO Mark Zuckerberg refused to censor certain posts by President Trump that many employees believed were a call to violence. Last Friday, Twitter censored a tweet from President Trump in which he addressed violent protesters stating, “when the looting starts, the...

USC has ended its relationship with a booster after she sent a series of tweets Sunday night promoting gun violence. In a statement on Monday afternoon, Trojans athletic director Mike Bohn said that he was made aware of "abhorrent and blatantly racist tweets from an individual who identified as a USC Football Booster." That booster, Marla Brown, said multiple times on her now-deleted Twitter account that people protesting police brutality and George Floyd's murder in Los Angeles and Washington D.C. should be shot. On her Twitter bio, Brown identified as a LAPD union attorney. She clarified later that she had...