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A hardcore libertarian is complaining that a private company booted him off their service and didn't give an explanation? Give me a break.
by maxehmookau 6y ago
A hardcore libertarian is complaining that a private company booted him off their service and didn't give an explanation?
Give me a break.
- stareatgoats 6y agoFirst of all we don't know the details here: quite possibly this could be one of the following (non-exhaustive): either a overzealous and politically motivated MAGA moderator who thought that barring Ron Paul could be a great way to make a point and cause a backlash that swings the pendulum back to giving conspiracy nuts a free rein again. Or, a politically ignorant moderator that wanted to score some points for achieving a perceived but misunderstood, objective. Or, an automated response to a coordinated flood of reports by an anti-libertarian brigade. Or, an automated response to a flood of comments calling for the execution of the VP, a flood of pornographic pictures by a community brigade or the like. Or, it could be a conscious effort by top brass on FB to punish Ron Paul on their platform for criticizing tech censorship. Out of which the last one seems the least probable, but in lieu of an official and forthright response from FB everyone is free to speculate wildly. But agree, it is ironic that Ron Paul complains about it. It is almost as if he really wants FB to behave like a public utility type service. Maybe it's time they did.
- aksss 6y agoI think the hardcore libertarian is complaining that oligopolies embedded with the inbound political administration are collaborating to shut out oppositional voices. Not seeing any contradiction with first principles of free markets and liberty there.
- rorykoehler 6y agoWhat will happen in a libertarian system where everyone can do whatever they please?
- aksss 6y agoPardon me, but this is a non-sequitur. Even in a politically anarchic system not everyone does as they please.
- rorykoehler 6y agoIt’s why I’m an anarchist in spirit only.
- maxehmookau 6y agoIMO that's a bit of a stretch. "Oligopolies embedded with the inbound political administration are collaborating to shut out oppositional voice" seems to be a hallmark of modern American politics, on both sides. Easy enough for the free market to fix, right? There needs to be a way to set up a free-speech/right-wing-friendly social media company that also manages not to automatically become a hotbed of conspiracy nuts and antisemites. Weirdly that seems quite difficult to do. /s
- aksss 6y agoThe libertarian critique is applicable to both sides. Not sure why you see it as a stretch - there’s a revolving door of jobs between some of these commercial organizations and the political ones. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/16/the-biden-teams-tug-of-war-over-facebook-436672 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/16/the-biden-teams-tug... Insofar as the free market is concerned, yeah, I think the criticism would be that lower barriers to entry and a restriction on anti-competitive practices would be a positive thing (whether via their M&A moves or overwhelming market ownership). Pointing to righteousness and virtue to shutdown Parler may help some of the faithful sleep better at night, but when simply looked at as a conveniently anti-competitive move for both commercial and political ends it’s quite a bit more banal.
- maxehmookau 6y ago> Pointing to righteousness and virtue to shutdown Parler may help some of the faithful sleep better at night, Shutting down garbage-fires of anti-Jewish sentiment, racism and patently incorrect conspiracies isn't righteousness. It's right.