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Not all of those are social media platforms. Some are social media management, email providers, etc. Just saying.
Does the government guarantee that you have to have a baker or grocery store within X miles? Do you want them to? Did they take away your ability to bake your own cake or start a cake business?
These sites may be powerful now, but here's a hint: popular and highly trafficked sites have varied widely over the history of the Internet.
You're comparing apples and sea urchins.
Let me simply this for you. Back in the day, town square was where people would gather to discuss the events of the day. Town squares in America are traditionally government owned and areas of free speech absolutism. Anybody can have whatever opinion they want without consequence. Wanna believe that your neighbor's cat is God Almighty? Go right ahead. Feel free to tell everyone all about it while your at it.
The growing list of 15 social media sites are today's town square. They are the places where conversations happen. The problem is, the Internet's town square is currently privately owned. Still, it's running on the Internet which is still owned by the US government for all intents and purposes. The US government built it to begin with. The government has some power here. For all sites with no stated bias or specialization, I think that something very close to free speech absolutism could and should be mandated. Somebody pointed out that a web forum specifically for Muslims might want the ability to kick people off their platform. That's fine. But sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have no specified community nor focus. They're available to everyone who wants to use them and together they compose a monopoly on Internet social media. So treat them like the monopolies that they are and stop allowing them to use their monopolistic power to abuse whoever they wish.
Alternately, we can just let Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google, Apple and all the rest commit suicide like they're doing right now. Nobody is too big to die or to be replaced. Sears and MySpace are both excellent examples of that fact. Sure we can let these platforms censor themselves into nonexistence. Gab.ai will take over for Twitter. Minds.com will take over for Facebook. Bitchute will take over for YouTube. Everyone else is very replaceable. People -- especially American people -- don't like censorship. We don't like thought policing. We don't like being told to sit down and shut up and we don't like seeing it done to another person. It just takes several years. Everyone just has to start over, that's all.
Let me simply this for you. Back in the day, town square was where people would gather to discuss the events of the day. Town squares in America are traditionally government owned and areas of free speech absolutism. Anybody can have whatever opinion they want without consequence. Wanna believe that your neighbor's cat is God Almighty? Go right ahead. Feel free to tell everyone all about it while your at it.
The growing list of 15 social media sites are today's town square. They are the places where conversations happen. The problem is, the Internet's town square is currently privately owned. Still, it's running on the Internet which is still owned by the US government for all intents and purposes. The US government built it to begin with. The government has some power here. For all sites with no stated bias or specialization, I think that something very close to free speech absolutism could and should be mandated. Somebody pointed out that a web forum specifically for Muslims might want the ability to kick people off their platform. That's fine. But sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have no specified community nor focus. They're available to everyone who wants to use them and together they compose a monopoly on Internet social media. So treat them like the monopolies that they are and stop allowing them to use their monopolistic power to abuse whoever they wish.
Alternately, we can just let Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google, Apple and all the rest commit suicide like they're doing right now. Nobody is too big to die or to be replaced. Sears and MySpace are both excellent examples of that fact. Sure we can let these platforms censor themselves into nonexistence. Gab.ai will take over for Twitter. Minds.com will take over for Facebook. Bitchute will take over for YouTube. Everyone else is very replaceable. People -- especially American people -- don't like censorship. We don't like thought policing. We don't like being told to sit down and shut up and we don't like seeing it done to another person. It just takes several years. Everyone just has to start over, that's all.
Your opinion is that social media businesses have created a public town square. The Internet itself is where the conversations happen. These are private businesses.
So you now want to have GovernmentTube to make a public square out of them or use eminent domain to take them over.
The equivalent is food. It's a basic thing everyone needs. A huge amount buy it at Walmart. There are other options, but a large chunk of it is available at Walmart.
The government should ensure that everyone has the ability to shop at Walmart no matter what and mandate enough Walmarts to fulfill it.
And if you argue that there are other supermarkets around, or that you can grow your own food or whatever....guess what, that's equally as true on the Internet. You are trying to argue that YouTube is not a private business and must be available legally to every one and the government make it so.
Last edited by latimeria; 08-08-2018 at 03:54 PM..
I never thought I would see the day when Conservatives demand government clamp down on free speech.
I guess this means we can put an end to citizens united to where multinational corporations band together to purchases politicians?
Let me simply this for you. Back in the day, town square was where people would gather to discuss the events of the day. Town squares in America are traditionally government owned and areas of free speech absolutism. Anybody can have whatever opinion they want without consequence. Wanna believe that your neighbor's cat is God Almighty? Go right ahead. Feel free to tell everyone all about it while your at it.
The growing list of 15 social media sites are today's town square. They are the places where conversations happen. The problem is, the Internet's town square is currently privately owned. Still, it's running on the Internet which is still owned by the US government for all intents and purposes. The US government built it to begin with. The government has some power here. For all sites with no stated bias or specialization, I think that something very close to free speech absolutism could and should be mandated. Somebody pointed out that a web forum specifically for Muslims might want the ability to kick people off their platform. That's fine. But sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have no specified community nor focus. They're available to everyone who wants to use them and together they compose a monopoly on Internet social media. So treat them like the monopolies that they are and stop allowing them to use their monopolistic power to abuse whoever they wish.
Alternately, we can just let Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google, Apple and all the rest commit suicide like they're doing right now. Nobody is too big to die or to be replaced. Sears and MySpace are both excellent examples of that fact. Sure we can let these platforms censor themselves into nonexistence. Gab.ai will take over for Twitter. Minds.com will take over for Facebook. Bitchute will take over for YouTube. Everyone else is very replaceable. People -- especially American people -- don't like censorship. We don't like thought policing. We don't like being told to sit down and shut up and we don't like seeing it done to another person. It just takes several years. Everyone just has to start over, that's all.
The internet is still the place to collectively gather. It isn't being censored. What you can't do is collectively gather on the private properties nearby and not expect the owners to ask you to leave.
Yes... If censoring AJ and the likes turns out to be business suicide... That is exactly what should be allowed to happen. That is capitalism and the American way
I never thought I would see the day when Conservatives demand government clamp down on free speech.
I guess this means we can put an end to citizens united to where multinational corporations band together to purchases politicians?
I am sure a lot of the morally consistent conservatives reading this thread feel like they have entered bizzaro world.
So we can be a socialist even communist like country and take private property or conservatives can collaborate and build competing services.
Which do you think is MORE American?
I hope people understand the long term ramifications of taking away private property rights because you don't like that someone got dismissed from the property. What happens if I protest on private property?
If they try to kick you off it, I expect the government to intervene and allow you to stay... (or so it goes in Alex Jones Pseudo-ControversyLand 101).
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Ever wanted to see how authoritarian the left is? Read the replies to Jack Dorsey (co-founder and CEO of Twitter) when he explained that they did not remove Alex Jones or InfoWars because AJ did not violate any rules:
And today he is an even bigger threat than he was the other day. I could do this entire post comparing moments in Star Wars to the Banning of Alex Jones and by the time I was done even the alt-right guys would appreciate The Last Jedi a little more.
I won’t stretch the metaphor too far. The Deep State is like Kylo Ren on seeing Luke Skywalker for the first time in years. They’ve searched for years for ways to destroy Alex Jones, marginalize him, etc.; hoping he would fade away into obscurity. Just like Ren search the galaxy for what he thought was The Last Jedi.
I mentionned earlier then the banning of Alex Jones created a Streisand effect. The guys of ZH goes even further by saying they created a martyr O_o and rising the popularity of alternatives like Gab and Bitchute. Doubtful the staff of Youtube and Facebook might react like Homer Simpson saying "D'oh" but who knows?
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