Censorship poses a real danger to our Republic

 

Journalist Matt Taibbi - no conservative or right-winger, to put it mildly - points out the danger inherent in so many news media and social media outlets that have conspired to block news unfavorable to their preferred politicians, and restrict its circulation.

The incredible decision by Twitter and Facebook to block access to a New York Post story about a cache of e-mails reportedly belonging to Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s son Hunter, with Twitter going so far as to lock the 200-year-old newspaper out of its own account for more than a week, continues to be a major underreported scandal.

The hypocrisy is mind-boggling. Imagine the reaction if that same set of facts involved The New York Times and any of its multitudinous unverifiable “exposés” from the last half-decade: from the similarly leaked “black ledger” story implicating Paul Manafort, to its later-debunked “repeated contacts with Russian intelligence” story, to its mountain of articles about the far more dubious Steele dossier.

The flow of information in the United States has become so politicized — bottlenecked by an increasingly brazen union of corporate press and tech platforms — that it’s become ­impossible for American audiences to see news about certain topics absent thickets of propagandistic contextualizing.

. . .

This is all information that the press should want to ask more about, even before the issue of the e-mails in the New York Post story. They may not be world-shaking matters. But if such stories become off-limits just because they make the wrong people look bad, we do have a serious problem, no matter who wins the presidency.

There's more at the link.

I find the hypocrisy of those involved to be mind-boggling in its intensity.  They're absolutely bound and determined to infringe on free speech in any and every way possible, provided only that it gets their chosen people elected to office.  It's a monomaniacal focus that bodes ill for free speech in the future in these United States.

There's a solution, of course, if only Americans would adopt it.  Get off the social media platforms concerned.  Abandon Twitter - there are many alternatives to it.  I use Gab, which is openly and determinedly pro-free-speech.  Yes, there are anti-Semites, racists, and other extremists using the platform too;  and yes, Gab refuses to censor them, because it regards free speech as the highest priority.  I agree with Gab.  I'm an adult.  When I come across individuals or posts that offend me, I have the option to mute or block them at my discretion, without interfering with free speech.  That's my job - not Gab's.  If I deny others the right of free speech, no matter how abhorrent I may find their views, then they have the right to deny it to me.  What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, as the saying goes.  I'd rather have the unfettered right in operation, and use my own discretion as to what I read and/or hear.

As for Facebook, there aren't many alternatives (yet) offering as many options, but that's OK.  Facebook is nothing more than a convenience, not a life-or-death, can't-do-without-it, as-necessary-as-breathing part of our lives.  If we're serious about wanting free speech, we can turn to social media such as MeWe and others, and encourage them to grow into genuine Facebook alternatives.

Google isn't quite as blatant in censoring others, although its search engine is very selective in what returns it shows.  Fortunately, there are many alternative search engines one can use.  I rely on DuckDuckGo, and have several alternatives already linked in my browser's search sidebar, so I can run several of them in succession on an important query to get a cross-section of links and information.

When it comes to biased news media, there are more and more alternatives out there.  Some are as biased towards the right wing of politics as others are towards the left, but some are fair and balanced (and I don't mean Fox News!).  Go looking, and you'll find a lot.  For a start, try John Solomon, Sharyl Attkisson, City Journal, Memeorandum and so on.  If you want more conservative news reporting, try Revolver, Spinquark and Knewz.

It's our choice to go on supporting biased, distorted, censorious social and news media - or to abandon them, letting them wither on the vine while we pursue more honest, open and accountable services.  Let's make that choice, and get on with it!

Peter