Do you remember what television news was like before the Fox News Channel came along? Everybody pretty much said the same thing, and dissenting opinions on many of the most critical issues were generally not given any air time. Of course Fox News is definitely still very much tied into the establishment, but at least they started providing a “Republican” point of view which was a stark contrast to the liberal propaganda that we were constantly being force fed by the other networks. And then the social media era arrived, and suddenly everyone had a voice. For years, we could say pretty much whatever we wanted on the major platforms, and we were generally left alone. But then the election of 2016 happened, and since that time the social media giants have been cracking down on conservatives with a vengeance. Yes, once in a while a liberal voice gets “deplatformed” or “shadowbanned” as well, but the truth is that conservatives have overwhelmingly been the targets of this relentless censorship campaign. That is why we need to create a conservative version of Facebook and other social media platforms. But instead of censoring liberal viewpoints, we will allow everyone to exercise the right of free speech, and we will let the “marketplace of ideas” determine which viewpoints ultimately triumph.
But liberals are deathly afraid of a free and open “marketplace of ideas”, because their ideas consistently lose.
In a desperate attempt to regain control, they are now taking Internet censorship to an entirely new level. Instead of just banning individuals, now they want to ban entire viewpoints.
For example, Pinterest has just announced that they are searching for a way to completely remove anti-vaccination content…
Pinterest said Wednesday that it would no longer return any search results, including pins and boards, for terms related to vaccinations, whether in favor or against them. It took that step in late 2018 after noticing that the majority of shared images on Pinterest cautioned people against vaccinations, despite medical guidelines demonstrating that most vaccines are safe for most people.
Pinterest told CNBC on Wednesday that it’s been hard to remove this anti-vaccination content entirely, so it put the ban in place until it can figure out a more permanent strategy.
And it is being reported that an effort is being made to get Facebook to do the exact same thing, and I imagine that will be coming in the not too distant future.
But why can’t we debate the safety of vaccines?
When I was growing up, I never imagined that the shots that I was getting could be dangerous. But when I got older I started hearing lots of horror stories, and after doing an enormous amount of research I discovered that there are some very serious safety issues that need to be addressed.
If only “stupid people” have concerns about vaccines, then why are parents that don’t vaccinate their children generally “better educated” and have a “higher income” then the rest of the population? The following comes from ABC News…
Daniel Salmon, who is the director of the Institute of Vaccine Safety at Johns Hopkins University, said that existing research suggests that there are some common attributes that many parents who choose not to vaccinate their children share.
“They tend to be better educated. They tend to be white, and they tend to be higher income. They tend to have larger families and they tend to use complementary and alternative medicine like chiropractors and naturopaths,” Salmon said.
The safety of the shots that are being given to our children is of the utmost importance, and we should be free to discuss these things.
But these days, anything that does not fit the official liberal narrative is labeled as a “conspiracy theory” or “fake news”, and those labels are being used as an excuse for extreme censorship. In fact, YouTube has just announced a brand new effort to marginalize “conspiracy videos”…
YouTube said on Friday that it would promote fewer videos containing misinformation and conspiracy theories, a potentially significant step to reducing the service’s potential to drive viewers toward extremist content. In a test limited to the United States, the service said it would stop recommending what it calls “borderline content” — videos that come close to violating its community guidelines but stop just short.
While YouTube said the change would affect less than 1 percent of videos that are available on YouTube, the sheer volume of content available on the service suggests the effect could be significant.
And of course the censorship of individual conservatives just continues to escalate. Conservative activist Laura Loomer does amazing work, and she never did anything wrong, but she has been “deplatformed” by Twitter, Paypal and Chase Bank because CAIR has engaged in a relentless campaign to shut her up.
Sadly, what we have seen so far is likely just the beginning. If new EU copyright rules are adopted later this year, it could literally be an apocalypse for free speech on the Internet. The following comes from the Daily Mail…
EU countries have backed an overhaul of the bloc’s copyright rules which would force Google and Facebook to filter out copyright-protected content on their platforms – including YouTube and Instagram – and pay publishers for news snippets.
The proposal, endorsed by EU members states on Wednesday, is unpopular with many Europeans who view it as an attempt to censor the web.
Thousands gathered in Cologne at the weekend to protest against the move, which they say will be a de facto ‘meme ban’ – as the internet jokes are often based on copyrighted images and video.
So what can we do?
When Fox News was first created, many were skeptical that it would survive, but it ultimately became the most popular news channel in America as millions of conservatives flocked to it. Similarly, we need to create new social media networks that will be “free speech zones” where everyone will be free to share what they think without fear of censorship.
I would create such a network myself, but I don’t have the technical skills. My talents are in writing, promotion and marketing. But if enough talented people banded together, I am sure that we could establish something that would be a serious competitor to Facebook and the other social media giants.
We need to do something, because if we don’t, the big social media corporations will continue to marginalize us until we are all complete digital outcasts.
About the author: Michael Snyder is a nationally-syndicated writer, media personality and political activist. He is the author of four books including Get Prepared Now, The Beginning Of The End and Living A Life That Really Matters. His articles are originally published on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News. From there, his articles are republished on dozens of other prominent websites. If you would like to republish his articles, please feel free to do so. The more people that see this information the better, and we need to wake more people up while there is still time.