Posted on 08/07/2018 3:34:15 AM PDT by markomalley
Following the removal of Alex Jones from Facebook, Apple and YouTube, for violating “hate speech” policies, Democrat Senator Chris Murphy tweeted “Infowars is just the tip of a giant iceberg.”
Monday afternoon Murphy tweeted, “I know Facebook and Apple and YouTube have gotten so big they sometimes seem like the government. But they aren’t. They are private companies that shouldn’t knowingly spread lies and hate. They took a good first step today removing Infowars. Infowars is just the tip of the iceberg of hate and lies that uses sites like Facebook and Youtube to tear our nation apart. These companies must do more than take down one website. The survival of our democracy depends on it.”
Senator Murphy did not clarify just exactly who, or what outlets make up the rest of the “giant iceberg of hate and lies” — and many conservatives are leery where this may be going.
Earlier this year, Twitter announced it would start using an algorithm to crack down on “hate speech.” One of the key components of the algorithm would collapse abusive or potentially “low quality” tweets by detecting certain phrases and patterns. The algorithm would also tweak search results, to downgrade abusive tweets.
So far it appears that the new algorithm may be targeting conservatives. On Sunday, conservative commentator Candace Owens temporarily had her account suspended. Twitter later restored her account, claiming that it was an “error.” Last month, Vice News reported that several prominent Republican officials were not being featured in Twitter search results. This tactic has been referred to as “shadow banning.”
Twitter’s new algorithm has many conservatives leery where this may be going — their concern? Who gets to determine what constitutes hate speech?
Hello 1984.
Exactly. They are lifting and shifting around the law to control political and cultural thought.
That’s fascism, pure and simple.
This will not end well for the left nor the companies that banned them. They’ve gone to far. If there is any evidence of a serious moral( immooral) civil war,”There’s a war on for your mind,” this is proof positive of forcing censorship.
I was not aware of many of the things about Infowars.
I guess now I unsubscribe.
Then, a bill should be drafted in the Congress to repeal those special exemptions. I’m sure it would be signed by Trump. That’s certainly a more efficient approach - and more in line with conservative values - than the break-up/chopping off the foot over a hangnail approach.
They’re privately owned companies- no one is safe from having their accounts banned... nor should anyone be safe.
If you use their sites it’s no different from entering someone’s home. If you become a nuisance in the eyes of the owners, they should have a right to kick you out.
About the only place where you may have some cause for complaint is in how private they really are. If they are actually fronts for gathering info on behalf of the government and are paid for such then it’s hard to argue that they are truly private. I suppose one could say if bakeries have to serve everyone regardless of the owner’s beliefs, then so should Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc.... but in my opinion no group or business should be obligated by law to serve everyone who darkens their door...be it a bakery, FreeRepublic, Democratsdotcommunists, or Facebook- unless they are a government contractor, or unless they are a sole provider of a service or necessity of life in an area.
It will get more intense.
Like “All Republicans will not be able to have bank accounts or insurance” intense.
What is interesting is that the libs have moved from big .gov to corporations.
This is a mess. And why Christian bakers should have been made to bake the darn cake. Muslim cabbies pick up chicks and dogs. Lefty restaurants serve conservatives. You do biz with the public, serve the dang public.
Agreed. There’s something fishy about the whole narrative. Why are they so afraid of Alex Jones?
There. I fixed it.
The left can not exist without two things.
Victims and the boogie man.
Censorship is just fine if a “Capitalist Octopus” does it.
I never said there are -nor have I argued that there SHOULD be - unlimited options or choices in the world, with regard to going online vs paper and pencil. That's a whole separate kettle of fish requiring a discussion of Luddites, and (again) the role of the govt in regulating how a business delivers service.
I suppose some things aren't available offline anymore...I'm not a trucker but l know I can still get my auto registration and cash out of my bank in person. I can even get my groceries in person and pay in cash. Of course I can't post to FR offline...that is a market force.
I can't recall the oral argument, but an attorney was arguing something like a law before SCOTUS had to be upheld because its repeal would lead to inefficiency. Scalia jumped in and said something like "government isn't supposed to be efficient." He went on to say that proper governance and wrestling over many matters should be deliberate and thoughtful. Expediency isn't always prudent.
In many ways, we have the same menu of choices before us today.,,.it is CERTAINLY more inefficient to go to the DMV to renew my registration AND pay in cash. But I retain a little liberty in the process. If as you state, some things you MUST go online to do today, I see that as a market force of cost savings vs federal intrusion. Further, I would NEVER want to argue for the govt to regulate how a business delivers a service...they can't deliver basic services so why would I expect the govt to get such regulation right?
Leaving the biggies out of this realm seems like a better way to go.
/https://public-media.smithsonianmag.com/filer/97/f2/97f2d9b8-ea5e-4f7b-97c7-9dfe8e5c1b34/hitler_youth_burning_books.jpg)
Correction:
FAKE victims and imaginary boogie men.
I want to see them define "hate speech" in a civil suit.
The only hate i see is groups of socialists,and commies attacking people having breakfast, at their own wedding, having a prayer vigil, or even just going to see a movie, or how about playing ball only to be shot at.
No turd face the fact that your kind keep saying other people have hate is not working anymore. People see the lefts hate and lies and are turning away from your radical agenda
Hopefully there are other legal remedies to put the hurt on the offending companies.
Generally a good argument. The problem is these companies aren’t just independent actors. They’re being pressured by leftists in government to restrict speech by conservatives. These companies are powerful enough on their own but it’s the sense that they’re connected to even greater powers — namely the ideological left and the part of government controlled by the left — that makes this feel like a big deal. It makes it seem unwise to just sit back and wait for the market to innovate around this problem.
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