#NoScrollForFreedom
People think that the outcry in support of freedom of speech is because Trump was removed from Twitter.
The concern goes much deeper. There is a concerted effort to control speech in society today. Not just speech that calls for violence, but also for speech that is disagreeable.
I was shocked and dismayed when tech giants (Google, Apple, and Amazon) banned together to not only censor Parler, but wipe them from the face of the internet. Worse yet, they succeeded.
What did Parler do that was so bad? It already had terms of service preventing fraud, doxing, and violence [1]. It just didn’t have a term preventing hate speech. The fledgling social media app refused to encroach upon free speech as protected in the Constitution of the United States of America. Let that sink in, Parler was attacked by a mob and left for dead, all it supports the first amendment.
In case you’re unaware, hate speech IS protected under the constitution and upheld multiple times by the supreme court. Even violent speech is protected unless it is a “true threat” [2].
In our country’s history, very few exceptions to free speech have been made because every exception moves us away from freedom and towards control. Controlled speech is controlled thought. Controlled thought is bondage.
The easy reaction to big tech’s assault on freedom is that, “they’re private companies and they can do whatever they want.”
This is true, but that doesn’t make it good!
Even though I can say hateful words, even violent words, that doesn’t mean I should. In the same way, just because these mobile oligarchs, Google, Apple, and Amazon, can beat Parler to a bloody pulp, it doesn’t mean they SHOULD, particularly in the name of democracy.
Parler is gone from the internet and their only hope of recovery is without a mobile app. Can a social media company really exist in 2021 without a mobile app? The tech oligarchs, Apple and Google, cut off Parler’s arms and legs, then Amazon dug a hole and left it there. All to the detriment of freedom, democracy, and the American way.
So, where do we go from here?
We need to speak up and prevent this from ever happening again. We need to call on social media companies to protect democracy in wise ways, not in ways that run counter to our rich heritage of free speech. Share this post so platforms can’t suppress it as easily.
Join me in #NoScrollForFreedom. I won’t be scrolling for two weeks on any platform that doesn’t protect the first amendment.
Thank goodness for America where we can still speak up. Those who are trying to control speech haven’t won yet!
[1] https://www.wired.com/story/parler-bans-new-chapter-free-speech-wars/
[2] https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan/amendment-1/threats-of-violence-against-individuals