Social media censors

 

 

       Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, You-Tube and others have come under fire recently, charged with "censorship".  It seems that these companies are refusing to publish some user content, particularly content with a conservative lean.  Lawsuits have ensued.  The suers include figures such as former president Trump, who has stated that these social media companies are violating his First Amendment right to "free speech", and so must be forced to publish his words.

First Amendment

      First off, let's debunk this First Amendment foolishness:  The amendment states "Congress shall make no law …".  Let us emphasize that again:  "CONGRESS shall make no law … ".  The 1st Amendment is all about CONGRESS, and sets limits on what CONGRESS can do.  Facebook and Twitter are not Congress, and in fact, are not even part of the government.  They are private companies, supposedly free to run their own business and establish their own policies however they see fit, provided their actions are not fraudulent.  There is no fraud here.

      Any American can surely say or write whatever he/she wishes.  But that does not mean that anyone must listen.  Neither does it mean that somebody else must publicize their words.  Choosing to not publish something is NOT "censorship".  As I have oft said:  individuals and organizations have the right to say No. 

            User:  "Publish my words."

            Publishing company:  "No."

Bureaucrat looking over your shoulder

      Twisting the 1st Amendment around to say that these publishing companies are in violation of the law is the ultimate irony.  The first ten amendments to the Constitution, a.k.a. the Bill of Rights, were written expressly to LIMIT the power of government and solidify personal freedoms.  Now these lawsuits are aiming to INCREASE governmental power and control over private companies and force them into compliance.  The last thing we need is government bureaucrats looking over the shoulders of social media managers, ready to override their decisions over what to publish.

      If you disagree with a social media's policy, there is a really simple solution that does not involve government agents and lawsuits:  just stop using them.  Facebook and Twitter are not coercing you to use their platforms.  Tell 'em to stuff it, and go someplace else.  It's called "boycotting".  There are tons of other social media platforms out there; find one whose policies you like. 

      Better yet, start up your own social media platform, or blog.  By golly, that's what I did - you're reading it right now!  The beauty of the Internet is that anybody can create a website and say anything they want.  (The problem with the Internet, though, is that anybody can say anything they want - but that's a different topic for a different day.)

      A common response to the above suggestion is something along the lines of:  "But Facebook and Twitter are so BIG and have so much POWER that nobody can compete with them!"  Oh stop your whining.  The reason they are big is because people pay them too much attention.  Just STOP using them, and encourage all your friends to do likewise.  It's already been said that their policies stink, so why are you still going there?  Time to dump Facebook and the others for better platforms.

      The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has gone so far as to claim that, because Facebook and Twitter ARE so large, they constitute a whole new legal entity they call a "common carrier".   According to WSJ, this is a business that lots of people rely on for news and information, and thus is subject to rules and regulations that, I suppose, an "uncommon carrier" would not be.

Internet troll

      What a total load of horse manure.  There are like zillions of places people can go to get news and information, including many that are not even on the Internet.  A huge chunk of the content on Facebook and Twitter comes from clueless morons, conspiracy theorists, and internet trolls with way too much time on their hands.  Have we forgotten Trump and all his Twitter garbage?  Social Media is absolutely the LAST places on Earth one should go for REAL news and information.  

      Furthermore, remember that the First Amendment is also about Freedom of the Press.  Governments throughout history have always HATED the press, because they sometimes say negative things about the state.  But our wise forefathers had the foresight to prevent politicians from trying to control what's in the news.  Let's re-read those first few words one more time:  "Congress shall make NO law …". 

      What part of "no" do the government-worshippers not understand?