It feels oppressive when Facebook, Twitter and Youtube start banning content based on political bias

[John Shaw]

Are you saying Alex Jones is the epitome of conservative thought? Wow.

No, but he is a popular conservative personality.

What exactly is conservative about him?

Maybe it would have been better to say he is a popular personality among conservatives. I really haven't seen a lot of his content. Are you actually going to fight on this hill? The decision to remove him from these platforms is very obviously political at least in part.

How do you figure?

 

[Confounding]

Are you saying Alex Jones is the epitome of conservative thought? Wow.

No, but he is a popular conservative personality.

What exactly is conservative about him?

Maybe it would have been better to say he is a popular personality among conservatives. I really haven't seen a lot of his content. Are you actually going to fight on this hill? The decision to remove him from these platforms is very obviously political at least in part.

How do you figure?

Whatever.

For the record, I would like to see you type this statement "I believe the decision to ban Alex Jones from Youtube, Twitter and Facebook had nothing to do with politics."

Would you do that for me?

 

[Marion Morrison]

This censorship thing sickens me. I remember when Google was ass. Now they're trying to fuck up the internet.

I guess they peaked from 2005-2009-ish.

Them having a duopoly with Apple on the smartphones is not good either.

Once you sign into Google on a smartphone, you cannot sign out. I don't even think you can delete cookies on a smartphone.

 

[ThisIsMe]

Are you saying Alex Jones is the epitome of conservative thought? Wow.

No, but he is a popular conservative personality.

What exactly is conservative about him?

Maybe it would have been better to say he is a popular personality among conservatives. I really haven't seen a lot of his content. Are you actually going to fight on this hill? The decision to remove him from these platforms is very obviously political at least in part.

I wouldn't necessarily say he is a favorite amongst conservatives. Maybe the conspiracy minded, yes, but I think you'd find as many conservatives as you would Democrats that would say his show is not based in reality.

 

[miketx]

Alex Jones was banned from all three of those platforms. Also Facebook is deleting content related to AGW denial. How far is it going to go?

So they every right to take down anything on their sites they so choose. Just like you walk into my office and start spewing things I don't like I can kick you out. Just like USMB takes down threads or posts or bans individual. 1st amendment doesn't apply everywhere only government.

There is no first amendment issue. The issue is large corporations colluding to shut down conservative voices. We even have a dem pol calling for more.

So don’t do business with those corps. It’s a free country.

Man I expect better from you than this cop out nonsense. I said from the start it is their right. Facebook, Youtube and Twitter are very relevant in politics. Removing conservative content is biased and of course conservatives are going to get outraged and feel attacked. Honestly how would you feel if these websites started targeting left wing content in particular? It would piss you off; admit it.

Are you saying Alex Jones is the epitome of conservative thought? Wow.

No, I'm saying he's being censored by giant corporations in an effort to sway the upcoming election.

 

[Confounding]

Are you saying Alex Jones is the epitome of conservative thought? Wow.

No, but he is a popular conservative personality.

What exactly is conservative about him?

Maybe it would have been better to say he is a popular personality among conservatives. I really haven't seen a lot of his content. Are you actually going to fight on this hill? The decision to remove him from these platforms is very obviously political at least in part.

I wouldn't necessarily say he is a favorite amongst conservatives. Maybe the conspiracy minded, yes, but I think you'd find as many conservatives as you would Democrats that would say his show is not based in reality.

I bet you wouldn't find as many conservatives that think he deserved to be banned from Youtube, Facebook and Twitter.

 

[Norman]

To me it seems obvious that Jones was targeted for political reasons

To me it is obvious that he was not, given that conservatives who don't glorify violence and do not use dehumanizing language about immigrants and Muslims still remain on facebook

Is telling the fact that in muslim countries the punishment for being raped is death "hate speech"?

 

[sakinago]

Those three platforms alone account for a huge amount of traffic and information flow on the internet. The internet in general played a very important role in the last election, and will probably play an even more important role in future ones. They technically have the right to do whatever they want with their platforms, but how is the right supposed to not feel oppressed by left wing censorship when giant internet platforms like those, who currently play a very important role in politics, start censoring right wing content? Fine, the platforms are legally entitled to do so. Let's have a philosophical discussion though. What about morality and intellectualism? They have the right, but are they right to do it?

Wouldn’t call Alex jones right wing, he’s just a straight up conspiracy theorist, maybe anti-government/anti-globalist. The most fitting descriptor would be he’s just a crazy person.

That being said, what Facebook is doing is very concerning. I think Alex jones is part joke, part conman, part Russian disruption tool...I really dislike Alex Jones and want to see him go down, but under his own weight. IDK how many more things he claims have to proven false for that to happen, (if it hasn’t happened now, it’s not going to happen). It especially is not going to happen now that Facebook just bolsetered the conspiracy nutjobs paranoia.

This type of privatized censorship is an issue I struggle with. I’d boycott Facebook, delete my account (if I had not already done so7 years ago). This is just wrong. It’s clearly over political reasons. This is a blow to free speech, but a blow from private companies, not government. I think the next step is people should start boycotting Facebook. It has come to that point, time to use speech and money against big speech and big money before these vague conditions for silencing they cite get even vaguer and more encompassing...Coming from a guy who would enjoy footage of Alex Jones getting hurt more than they should.

 

[sakinago]

Not that I support content banning, but a lot of the reporting on this is overblown. Much of what is happening are algorithms taking down content unintentionally. A quick email to the company will get the content restored.

And other reporting, like the whining PragerU does, is nothing at all. YouTube has a content filter, turned off by default, that blocks a lot more than just conservative media.

This was intentional, with announcements of it and entire pages getting taken down. I mean read their own words on the subject. Shadowbanning was also proven real. This is no longer being overblown.

 

[Confounding]

This type of privatized censorship is an issue I struggle with. I’d boycott Facebook, delete my account (if I had not already done so7 years ago). This is just wrong. It’s clearly over political reasons. This is a blow to free speech, but a blow from private companies, not government.

It's a very bad precedent and a blow to fair and open dialogue. Thank you for your post.

 

[Crepitus]

Not political bias, truth vs lies.

If lies are lies they're not a threat to me. I think attacking him makes the situation worse.

They might not be a threat to you, but talk to some of the Sandy Hook parents who have received death threats from some of Jones' followers. Or, you could talk to the pizza shop owner whose place was shot up by a Jones follower who thought that the basement of the shop was a pedophile ring. (Hint: the pizza shop didn't have a basement.)

Kicking him off social media will radicalize his followers even more. In their minds Jones was just proven right.

Maybe of they aren't saturated with the crap they will regain some sanity. Besides, who knows what goes on in their alleged minds.

 

[miketx]

Not political bias, truth vs lies.

If lies are lies they're not a threat to me. I think attacking him makes the situation worse.

They might not be a threat to you, but talk to some of the Sandy Hook parents who have received death threats from some of Jones' followers. Or, you could talk to the pizza shop owner whose place was shot up by a Jones follower who thought that the basement of the shop was a pedophile ring. (Hint: the pizza shop didn't have a basement.)

Kicking him off social media will radicalize his followers even more. In their minds Jones was just proven right.

Maybe of they aren't saturated with the crap they will regain some sanity. Besides, who knows what goes on in their alleged minds.

"Alleged minds"? Classic libtard troll!

 

[ThisIsMe]

Are you saying Alex Jones is the epitome of conservative thought? Wow.

No, but he is a popular conservative personality.

What exactly is conservative about him?

Maybe it would have been better to say he is a popular personality among conservatives. I really haven't seen a lot of his content. Are you actually going to fight on this hill? The decision to remove him from these platforms is very obviously political at least in part.

I wouldn't necessarily say he is a favorite amongst conservatives. Maybe the conspiracy minded, yes, but I think you'd find as many conservatives as you would Democrats that would say his show is not based in reality.

I bet you wouldn't find as many conservatives that think he deserved to be banned from Youtube, Facebook and Twitter.

No, you're right, but they wouldn't say that because they agree with him, they would say that because they recognize that what is happening here is political censorship of free speech.

True, a lot of things that Alex says are appalling, but at the same time, there are many other people on social media who say things that are appalling as well, who are not being banned.

 

[Marion Morrison]

No, but he is a popular conservative personality.

What exactly is conservative about him?

Maybe it would have been better to say he is a popular personality among conservatives. I really haven't seen a lot of his content. Are you actually going to fight on this hill? The decision to remove him from these platforms is very obviously political at least in part.

I wouldn't necessarily say he is a favorite amongst conservatives. Maybe the conspiracy minded, yes, but I think you'd find as many conservatives as you would Democrats that would say his show is not based in reality.

I bet you wouldn't find as many conservatives that think he deserved to be banned from Youtube, Facebook and Twitter.

No, you're right, but they wouldn't say that because they agree with him, they would say that because they recognize that what is happening here is political censorship of free speech.

True, a lot of things that Alex says are appalling, but at the same time, there are many other people on social media who say things that are appalling as well, who are not being banned.

You wouldn't find a majority of people in America that support this type of censorship.

I saw just a poll and more than 75% were against censorship.

 

[sakinago]

Those three platforms alone account for a huge amount of traffic and information flow on the internet. The internet in general played a very important role in the last election, and will probably play an even more important role in future ones. They technically have the right to do whatever they want with their platforms, but how is the right supposed to not feel oppressed by left wing censorship when giant internet platforms like those, who currently play a very important role in politics, start censoring right wing content? Fine, the platforms are legally entitled to do so. Let's have a philosophical discussion though. What about morality and intellectualism? They have the right, but are they right to do it?

Okay.

Can someone exain to me how claiming Sandy Hook was a hoax is "political"?

How about, insisting a pizza place is running a child trafficking ring? How is that, "political"?

What do conspiracy theories about 9/11 and incitements to violence have to do with one's beliefs on the size or role of government in legislation amd policy?

I just don't think this defense applies.

Those theories are retarded, but also very political theories. Crazy ones, but based on politics. The politics that the left is faking gun massacres to take away guns...gun control is a pretty big political topic. The claim that Hillary Clinton was involved in the pizza child sex shop was obviously political...in what other context does one talk about Hillary during the 2016 election with out that being political? And bush allowing/planning/using 9/11 as a power grab for things like the patriot act and overseas war are also very political topics. Your defense doesn’t really hold up, I don’t even know how you could try to claim they’re not political. Conspiracy theories almost always revolve around politics, since they pretty much all involve a government conspiring against their citizens in one form or another.

I think equality by outcome is just as batshit crazy as those consoiracy theories, that doesn’t mean I don’t think they aren’t political. CNN and MSNBC rolled out their own conspiracy theories that Trump possibly has been a Russian agent for the 20 or 30 years. It’s also retarded, but also political.

What the hell is your definition of political that these don’t count as political issues. I’m shaking my head at this, like the word politics is derived from policy, which is created by the government, and Alex Jones pretty much only talks about the government. How many mental road blocks did you have to throw out in front of you to make the claim you just did? I’m honestly curious. How? I’m so flooded with questions on how someone even capable of saying what you just said, and comfortable with posting it on a public blog that all I can ask is how did you do that?

 

[John Shaw]

Are you saying Alex Jones is the epitome of conservative thought? Wow.

No, but he is a popular conservative personality.

What exactly is conservative about him?

Maybe it would have been better to say he is a popular personality among conservatives. I really haven't seen a lot of his content. Are you actually going to fight on this hill? The decision to remove him from these platforms is very obviously political at least in part.

How do you figure?

Whatever.

For the record, I would like to see you type this statement "I believe the decision to ban Alex Jones from Youtube, Twitter and Facebook had nothing to do with politics."

Would you do that for me?

Where is the evidence that it was politically motivated? The guy said a lot of pretty heinous shit over the years. Frankly, I'm surprised it took them this long to get rid of his dumb ass.

You can still find the dumbass on the InfoWars site, right? What difference does it make? Others don't want him around. Would you want a delirious crackpot swindler proudly featured on your platform? I wouldn't.

 

[sakinago]

No, but he is a popular conservative personality.

What exactly is conservative about him?

Maybe it would have been better to say he is a popular personality among conservatives. I really haven't seen a lot of his content. Are you actually going to fight on this hill? The decision to remove him from these platforms is very obviously political at least in part.

How do you figure?

Whatever.

For the record, I would like to see you type this statement "I believe the decision to ban Alex Jones from Youtube, Twitter and Facebook had nothing to do with politics."

Would you do that for me?

Where is the evidence that it was politically motivated? The guy said a lot of pretty heinous shit over the years. Frankly, I'm surprised it took them this long to get rid of his dumb ass.

You can still find the dumbass on the InfoWars site, right? What difference does it make? Others don't want him around. Would you want a delirious crackpot swindler proudly featured on your platform? I wouldn't.

Um heinous shit gets said all the time by all sorts of people agains all different types of people, that’s free speech. The evidence that this is political is the fact that they aren’t making announcements to take down folks on the left making equally heinous comments.

Different but similar platform but a beautiful example of what I mean. As an asian, this stuff I saw that The NY Times editor tweeted about white people was henious, racist, and should clearly fall under the definition of hate speech by the lefts own terms. Why do I say that? because Candace Owens, black lady, posted the same things Jeong twitted, verbatim, except she just replaced the word white, with the word black. She got blocked on Twitter within 20 mins. Joeng never got blocked. Old school Asians can be super racist against other Asians.

I do not defend Alex jones or the crazy shit he says. But I do value free speech. This means I think what Facebook did, a platform that claims to give people a voice, is wrong in the same way I think a company that would not hire or discriminate against black people is wrong. I would boycott the latter company because I think “all men are created equal” is an important American value, just like I think the freedom of speech is also an important value.

 

[John Shaw]

What exactly is conservative about him?

Maybe it would have been better to say he is a popular personality among conservatives. I really haven't seen a lot of his content. Are you actually going to fight on this hill? The decision to remove him from these platforms is very obviously political at least in part.

How do you figure?

Whatever.

For the record, I would like to see you type this statement "I believe the decision to ban Alex Jones from Youtube, Twitter and Facebook had nothing to do with politics."

Would you do that for me?

Where is the evidence that it was politically motivated? The guy said a lot of pretty heinous shit over the years. Frankly, I'm surprised it took them this long to get rid of his dumb ass.

You can still find the dumbass on the InfoWars site, right? What difference does it make? Others don't want him around. Would you want a delirious crackpot swindler proudly featured on your platform? I wouldn't.

Um heinous shit gets said all the time by all sorts of people agains all different types of people, that’s free speech. The evidence that this is political is the fact that they aren’t making announcements to take down folks on the left making equally heinous comments.

Different but similar platform but a beautiful example of what I mean. As an asian, this stuff I saw that The NY Times editor tweeted about white people was henious, racist, and should clearly fall under the definition of hate speech by the lefts own terms. Why do I say that? because Candace Owens, black lady, posted the same things Jeong twitted, verbatim, except she just replaced the word white, with the word black. She got blocked on Twitter within 20 mins. Joeng never got blocked. Old school Asians can be super racist against other Asians.

I do not defend Alex jones or the crazy shit he says. But I do value free speech. This means I think what Facebook did, a platform that claims to give people a voice, is wrong in the same way I think a company that would not hire or discriminate against black people is wrong. I would boycott the latter company because I think “all men are created equal” is an important American value, just like I think the freedom of speech is also an important value.

It is up to the company to decide what is appropriate for their platform. End of story.

Criticize them all you like, but at the end of the day, it's their choice. It's not censorship. It's business.

If the government started telling Google to only allow pro-Trump videos on Youtube, that would be censorship.

 

[Confounding]

Criticize them all you like, but at the end of the day, it's their choice. It's not censorship. It's business.

cen·sorship
[ˈsensərSHip]
NOUN

1. the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.

Legal censorship by social media companies is still censorship.

 

[John Shaw]

Criticize them all you like, but at the end of the day, it's their choice. It's not censorship. It's business.

cen·sorship
[ˈsensərSHip]
NOUN

1. the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.

Legal censorship by social media companies is still censorship.

Call it whatever you like. What's your preferred alternative? Big government swoops in and demands that Alex Jones be put back on Youtube? Come on ...