4 ms·

It's important to remember the history here. In 2015 social media was basically the wild west. You could get away with saying all sorts of crazy stuff and nobod

It's important to remember the history here. In 2015 social media was basically the wild west. You could get away with saying all sorts of crazy stuff and nobody cared. After the 2016 election all of the big social media CEOs were dragged in front of Congress to testify about fake news, Russian propaganda, etc. They were directly threatened by lawmakers that if they didn't shape up by censoring us that lawmakers would bring the hammer down. What we are experiencing now is 5 years of development on that threat. The social media CEOs are in a position where if the media manages to make a big fuss about some sort of "misinformation" then Congress will respond by dragging their butts back to testify and/or regulation. This has turned the social media CEOs into slaves of the corporate press. All it takes is a few tweets from the right people asking Zuck why he's platforming "Nazis" or whatever they are calling moderate Republicans and anti-war leftists these days and these companies will jump. This is the censorship that the government demanded, and they can't escape. I'm not sure what the answer is, because if we all jump ship from FB/Twitter/etc onto a "new" platform, it won't be long until that new CEO gets dragged before Congress and is given the same threats.

tstrimple 5y ago
There seems to be this pervasive myth that conservatives are being censored on sites like Facebook. That's at odds with the fact that far right misinformation still dominates those websites. Just what evidence would be sufficient to convince conservatives that they aren't being unduly censored? https://www.npr.org/2021/03/06/974394783/far-right-misinformation-is-thriving-on-facebook-a-new-study-shows-just-how-much https://www.npr.org/2021/03/06/974394783/far-right-misinform... https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/02/01/censorship-conservatives-trump-facebook-twitter-youtube/4316155001/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/02/01/censorship-co... > “Republicans, or more broadly conservatives, have been spreading a form of disinformation on how they're treated on social media. They complain they’re censored and suppressed but, not only is there not evidence to support that, what evidence exists actually cuts in the other direction,” said Paul Barrett, deputy director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, which released the report Monday.
- Consultant32452 5y ago
  I don’t believe there is anything I or anyone else could say that would change your mind. Out of curiosity, when I said "anti-war leftists" did you perceive that to mean something negative/radical about them relative to when I said "moderate Republicans"? Also, what gave you the impression that I meant one of those was getting censored more than the other?
  - tstrimple 5y ago
    You didn't imply one was censored more than another. You claimed it's moderate Republicans being called Nazis and throwing in the anti-war leftists as false equivalence in an attempt to sound moderate. There are very real signs of fascism growing within the Republican party. From aligning against an "other" enemy to telling people they are the only ones who can stop the onslaught to telling people to be strong in resisting the election results to passing laws in 18 states to restrict voting. Over 60% of Republicans in the House voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election and over 70% of Republicans believe the election was stolen. This is tens of millions of people deluded by an obvious con-man with no sign of sanity in sight. I think the time for "both side" and false equivalence is well past over.

tstrimple 5y ago

There seems to be this pervasive myth that conservatives are being censored on sites like Facebook. That's at odds with the fact that far right misinformation still dominates those websites. Just what evidence would be sufficient to convince conservatives that they aren't being unduly censored? https://www.npr.org/2021/03/06/974394783/far-right-misinformation-is-thriving-on-facebook-a-new-study-shows-just-how-much https://www.npr.org/2021/03/06/974394783/far-right-misinform... https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/02/01/censorship-conservatives-trump-facebook-twitter-youtube/4316155001/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/02/01/censorship-co... > “Republicans, or more broadly conservatives, have been spreading a form of disinformation on how they're treated on social media. They complain they’re censored and suppressed but, not only is there not evidence to support that, what evidence exists actually cuts in the other direction,” said Paul Barrett, deputy director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, which released the report Monday.

Consultant32452 5y ago
I don’t believe there is anything I or anyone else could say that would change your mind. Out of curiosity, when I said "anti-war leftists" did you perceive that to mean something negative/radical about them relative to when I said "moderate Republicans"? Also, what gave you the impression that I meant one of those was getting censored more than the other?
- tstrimple 5y ago
  You didn't imply one was censored more than another. You claimed it's moderate Republicans being called Nazis and throwing in the anti-war leftists as false equivalence in an attempt to sound moderate. There are very real signs of fascism growing within the Republican party. From aligning against an "other" enemy to telling people they are the only ones who can stop the onslaught to telling people to be strong in resisting the election results to passing laws in 18 states to restrict voting. Over 60% of Republicans in the House voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election and over 70% of Republicans believe the election was stolen. This is tens of millions of people deluded by an obvious con-man with no sign of sanity in sight. I think the time for "both side" and false equivalence is well past over.