Facebook censored Ron Paul yesterday. Did he say elections were stolen? Nope. Did he defend those who got violent last week at the Capitol? Nyet. Did he spout Covid-19 conspiracy theories? Nein. All the former Congressman did was question Big Tech censorship in a column he wrote and linked on his Facebook page. For such thought crimes, Facebook locked him out of his own Facebook page for "violating community standards." Read the entire column posted below and judge for yourself.
Last week’s massive social media purges – starting with President Trump’s permanent ban from Twitter and other outlets – was shocking and chilling, particularly to those of us who value free expression and the free exchange of ideas. The justifications given for the silencing of wide swaths of public opinion made no sense and the process was anything but transparent. Nowhere in President Trump’s two “offending” Tweets, for example, was a call for violence expressed explicitly or implicitly. It was a classic example of sentence first, verdict later.Kingfish note: Hmmm..... where have I read some of these ideas before? Oh yes, in Gore Vidal's writings. Surely those on the left remember Mr. Vidal as he was one of their heroes. Peruse some of his essays in their Bible, The Nation. Mr. Paul's column was no different but it did make the mistake of questioning the new media masters as Mr. Vidal as want to do.
Many Americans viewed this assault on social media accounts as a liberal or Democrat attack on conservatives and Republicans, but they are missing the point. The narrowing of allowable opinion in the virtual public square is no conspiracy against conservatives. As progressives like Glenn Greenwald have pointed out, this is a wider assault on any opinion that veers from the acceptable parameters of the mainstream elite, which is made up of both Democrats and Republicans.
Yes, this is partly an attempt to erase the Trump movement from the pages of history, but it is also an attempt to silence any criticism of the emerging political consensus in the coming Biden era that may come from progressive or antiwar circles.
After all, a look at Biden’s incoming “experts” shows that they will be the same failed neoconservative interventionists who gave us weekly kill lists, endless drone attacks and coups overseas, and even US government killing of American citizens abroad. Progressives who complain about this “back to the future” foreign policy are also sure to find their voices silenced.
Those who continue to argue that the social media companies are purely private ventures acting independent of US government interests are ignoring reality. The corporatist merger of “private” US social media companies with US government foreign policy goals has a long history and is deeply steeped in the hyper-interventionism of the Obama/Biden era.
“Big Tech” long ago partnered with the Obama/Biden/Clinton State Department to lend their tools to US “soft power” goals overseas. Whether it was ongoing regime change attempts against Iran, the 2009 coup in Honduras, the disastrous US-led coup in Ukraine, “Arab Spring,” the destruction of Syria and Libya, and so many more, the big US tech firms were happy to partner up with the State Department and US intelligence to provide the tools to empower those the US wanted to seize power and to silence those out of favor.
In short, US government elites have been partnering with “Big Tech” overseas for years to decide who has the right to speak and who must be silenced. What has changed now is that this deployment of “soft power” in the service of Washington’s hard power has come home to roost.
So what is to be done? Even pro-free speech alternative social media outlets are under attack from the Big Tech/government Leviathan. There are no easy solutions. But we must think back to the dissidents in the era of Soviet tyranny. They had no Internet. They had no social media. They had no ability to communicate with thousands and millions of like-minded, freedom lovers. Yet they used incredible creativity in the face of incredible adversity to continue pushing their ideas. Because no army – not even Big Tech partnered with Big Government - can stop an idea whose time has come. And Liberty is that idea. We must move forward with creativity and confidence! Link to column on the Ron Paul Institute's website.
It was not too long ago segregationists operated media outlets such as newspapers and tv stations. They controlled the news as well although their reach was more limited. Human nature's ability to be corrupted by absolute power has not changed regardless of how enlightened we think we are. There is a reason limits were placed on the ownership of tv stations, newspapers, and radio stations. Concentration of media power was considered harmful to the health of the Republic.
Such an idea was true then and it is true now. Five companies have become so powerful that they are almost unaccountable to anyone, dwarfing anything said about the seven sisters. These companies are now banning newspapers, public officials, and even the President of the United States from public discourse. They've virtually destroyed the media, depriving them of their ad revenue while de facto deciding which stories can be published. Meanwhile, the politicians slurp up their money. As they become more powerful, accountability disappears. Those egging them on today might find themselves on the receiving end of such power just as those who doomed their fellow man to the tumbrils eventually took the same ride.
Fortunately, Mr. Paul's punishment was short-lived as he is currently back on Facebook.
61 comments:
Ron Paul is a national treasure. I don’t care if you think Libertarians are isolationist nuts. The man always stuck to his convictions. He always seemed like a kind man. I’m sure he had a great bedside manner as a medical doctor. Funny thing is that I learned about Ron Paul from Alex Jones back when Infowars didn’t shill for the White House. Back when Alex would talk about Waco and 9/11. Ron was still in congress and Alex would take his call and ask Ron about Patriot Act stuff and such.
The biggest problem with people like Ron Paul is not actually his fault. Most Americans of both parties are so willfully ignorant that most of what he says goes right over their heads.
I despise Trump and what he's done to our country, but agree that silencing him on Twitter was a mistake.
Just look at Parler for example. You have massive corporations colluding to shut down a competitor. If that’s not the definition of a monopoly, then I don’t know what is.
Give me a break!
No private company has to publish your words. You, as moderator, are more than aware of that. Facebook and other social media companies have let things go unchecked on their sites for far too long. As a result, disinformation on COVID, government conspiracies, and the like continues to flourish today, despite facebook’s belated efforts to put the tiger back in its cage. This is not harmless, as we saw last Wednesday.
And it’s plain idiotic to say that Twitter has silenced Trump. He has other means of talking to the American people. You know better.
If you are going to "read the entire column and decide for yourself" - read the site's rules that were accepted by any user, including Paul, when he signed up to use the service. A service, by the way, that is given to him free by the owner of the site.
KF - if you want to apply this idea of "censorship" to Facebook, what are the standards of Jackson Jambalaya? Do you allow anybody to post anything they choose on your site, or do you decide which comments get posted and which are s**tcanned?
We know that answer. And I don't disagree with it. JJ is your site; it is privately owned by you. Anybody that doesnt like the rules can go to another site, or start their own which is suggested by a commentator at least a few times a week.
While I don't necessarily agree with FB's decision, it is their decision to make. If this type action starts costing them money (which it will) the shareholders can complain. If Ron Paul doesn't like it, which he obviously doesn't based on his column, then he can start his own social network.
Just like JJ, FB is a privately owned business. It is not censorship for you to decide to not publish some comments - could be because they are rude, crude and socially incorrect - or it could just be because you don't like what is being said. It doesn't matter why you do it, you are entitled to do it. Same rules apply to these other Big Tech sites.
I can't imagine why ANYONE is on Fakebook. It's like winning the special olympics.
Trump warned us what was coming and it’s here. Socialism is ugly. America is about to undergo a major change. Leftist will take over on Jan 20th.
That’s the beauty of capitalism. They can just create their own service to compete. If you don’t like apple, make your own phone. If you don’t like amazon, host your own website. Just like the bakers who didn’t want to bake for gay people, tech companies have the right to service who they please.
It’s hard to grasp that some people celebrate companies who hate free speech. Liberals used to hate big corporations, now they worship them. Free speech is dying.
Pretty astonishing that the right is now suggesting that companies should be forced by the government to treat everyone equally. Where has that been for the last 100 years? Bottom line, Trump is toxic and now the GOP is paying for their deal with the devil.
And what means do you suggest....the only other mass media opportunity I know of would be the press....they have long since banned coverage of him with the exception of FOX.
I think it was inevitable that Facebook, etc., would overreach in responding to last week's events. What they do next will tell the tale, in my opinion. I think the last line of the post is the most important, which says that Mr. Paul's account was unlocked.
The real threat, to me, would be if Facebook and Twitter were the only publishers of news and opinions. Personally, I've never had a Facebook or Twitter account, and I consider myself fairly well informed by various news outlets, who actually pay reporters to report the news.
Politicians gave social media their political power by using their platforms to speak directly to the public, and they can just as easily take it way by not using them. Of course, they would then have to quit scapegoating "the media" for all of their own failures, and boycotting them of them as a sham demonstration of their non-existent principles.
Ask yourself this, who are the Chinese Communists supporting right now and which tech companies are seeking their favor?
... now the GOP is paying for their deal with the devil.
Short term pain. 2 years max. Reapportionment and redistricting will be devastating for the left.
It is a good thing that our national corruption has come into full view.
I just went to his facebook page and it looks fine to me? Fake news? Did Kingfish visit his page before posting?
America has been corrupt for centuries.. Controlling information and historical revisionism is what keeps Americans ignorant to the crimes of their government. Other nations have accurately recorded the wrongs that we committed against them. But try telling an American and you will get the most infantile jingoistic platitudes that you can imagine. It is absolutely comical.
Now in this information age we are witnessing the evil of our own government first hand. We are simultaneously witnessing her diabolical methods of deception and gaslighting in real time.
The Truth Hurts.
What's the matter Fish? Can't stand the comparison of these other social media site's 'censoring' their content to what you (rightly) do on JJ?
Same thing, same argument. But because you don't want that mirror reversed for you to see it, you decide to do the exact thing - nuke the comments that you don't like. In this case, pointed out that what you are suggesting is censorship by another company is the exact same thing you do daily.
Dare you to post this - of course it would make little sense unless you post the first comment. Nothing objectionable in it; just pointed to the comparison.
Now that the U.S. has become a banana republic when will domestically grown bananas become available?
So the Democratic Party is cool with defunding the police, limiting freedom of speech, giving out money (when we aren't on the gold standard and in big time debt), abortion, and packing the Supreme Court. Democrats y'all better delete all your political social media posts, because one day your going to be looked down upon I would think.
Really that's some Gotham villain type stuff, defunding the police, packing the court, etc.
Can we talk about David Blount wanting to basically give away our electoral college votes. Yo, David, it's called the United States for a reason, every state has a say.
KF - You censor people quite frequently and tell them that they should start there own blog because you own this one. Perhaps Ron Paul and anyone else that doesn't like Facebook's action should start their own social network. Seriously, it is a freaking private business (albeit a very large business) just like your little blog, and they can censor anyone that they please, just like you and your little blog.
well..the right should have supported 'net neutrality'...
in tearing that down, private companies can do as they please online.
the irony is just making me laugh and laugh.
parler is down because they didnt moderate posts that call for killing of people. plain and simple.
there aren't enough white evangelicals to overturn it now. apple cart has fallen..
The 3 things Democrats are aiming at are doing away with the electorial college, adding Washington DC as a state and adding 3 Supreme Court Justices. They will say it is fairer for the people of the United States. Getting control of what's on Facebook, Google and Twitter is all about the employees who are younger than 40 years who work there and believe that their ideas are best for everyone. it doesn't hurt that Uncle Joe has promised to do away with their student loans. Well the $10,000 that has been promised is a start.
Welcome to the USSA.
Wow. There are way too many commenting that refuse to let go of the old dead belief in two parties and quaint government representation. Everyone should wake up (especially in this State) and understand that we are “all” expendable to those in power and in DC. It is just unbelievable how gullible people can be if they just hear the right line from those in charge.
@3:57
So called “Net Neutrality” would have nothing to do with censorship on tech platforms. The pro-tech monopolies lobbied bigly for it. All that the EO on Net Neutrality would do is force Comcast and AT&T to prioritize Netflix and Disney+ traffic instead of their own competing offerings. You fell for the propaganda. It isn’t about throttling or about restricting access. It was absolutely about stifling competition for the bandwidth parasitic practices of the video streamers.
No company should be forced to subsidize and prioritize their competition.
Welcome to the United Communist Amerika!
Thought police are now in your face and they say you can't do anything about it!
I suppose we are stuck with social media forever. It has done more to divide this country than most anything else
3:57, Net Neutrality was about forced network bandwidth prioritization and nothing more. No traffic was ever blocked. There were no “tiered access” plans. That was all propaganda. It was simply all about forcing Comcast and AT&T to give Netflix, Hulu, and any other competition equal bandwidth to compete with the ISP’s own investments in streaming services.
The president claims the election was fraudulent and stolen and refuses to concede - misleading millions of Americans to believe that American elections are unfair or fraudulent.
An armed riot barges into the US Capitol on the day that Congress is to count electoral votes.
Yes, we should be concerned about Ron Paul's Facebook page, but we really need R's especially to publically reinforce faith in our elections. This is the single most important issue for the next several months.
All the people mad at Big Tech for censoring Trump have changed course since Kaepernik took a knee. I remember all the call to ban/fire him.
Get used to it. The next four years we will be a communist country
Several have said that if people don't like what is happening on the current social sites, then they should create their own. Funny thing is that they did that, and the hosting services shut them down. A little thing like competition seems to scare them as much as conservative ideas...
Can we talk about David Blount wanting to basically give away our electoral college votes.
Pandering legislation. DOA. Blount has major redistricting problem and wears the wrong skin color.
I just went to his facebook page and it looks fine to me? Fake news? Did Kingfish visit his page before posting?
Seek remedial help with reading comprehension.
We wouldn’t be having any of these problems if YOU PEOPLE had elected Ron Paul years ago.
i can remember when reddit.com was all about some Ron Paul. I can’t even stomach the ridiculous leftist hive mind that reddit has become.
Sir/ma'am. If that line of thinking is honest and not satirical, then you need to try to retrieve your head from your rectum.
How could anyone genuinely "have faith" in our elections after all of the evidence showing that, at a bare minimum, there was fraud and collusion? Was it enough to change the election, I, nor anyone else, knows for sure. But to ignore the fraud is way worse than overreacting to it, a la Trumpsters
Parler should have been booted. Don't like it? Go find or start your own hosting company.
Ron Paul? I can only assume that was an over eager AI at Facebook. Putting him back online was the right thing. Had the ban continued, you might have a point.
There is something terribly wrong when a person or group has so little confidence in their belief system or philosophy that silencing the opposition is the only answer. When you can't win in the arena of ideas, desperation takes over. When the opposition to that belief system are deemed mortal enemies the next step is eradication. When you have decided that your opposition is no longer your fellow citizens, or even a more drastic measure of deciding they are less than human. This opposition is the stumbling stone to having the perfect society, even more so the cause to all the problems. The final solution it has been called before. How many remember history? How many have never been taught this history? Does this sound extreme? Have you listened to some of the quotes concerning the 75 million or so that voted for Trump and what should be done to them? That they should be marked, not allowed to earn a living. When, do tell, did we become this monstrosity? In their supposed righteousness they cancel people.
These are private companies, true enough, but they are of the same mind and same opinion concerning the opposition. This is a dangerous time for this country. The fire is kindled. The flames are being fanned. Will the union stand? Who will prevail?
@4:47 you are so right
No problem when big company sensor and fire football player go taking a knee
No problem when big company calls army on “Black lives Matter “ protest and all there saying is that a
Black life is just as important as any other race And same company does nothing while other protest group murders police
No problem with sensor ship unless there sensoring a cause that u care about
Well, it looks like some of us are starting to get our senses of humor back. I think that's an important part of the recovery process.
To those of us who voted for Joe Biden: Can we please not rub our fellow countrymen's faces in it? The line that "if you don't like it, go live in ____, go start your own ____, go run for office for ____, go build your own space ship," or whatever, is just a dishonest way to tell someone to go f themselves. The high road is still there. Can we please start taking it?
CNN Airport Network shutting down March 31st. Amen. Now it is time to cut off any remaining taxpayer funding of MPB.
There was once something called "Ma Bell"
I know KF censors anything which does not conform with his Christian view. Happened to me more than once. And I accept it, after all it is his private site. So stop snowflaking around if another private site does the same!
Trump needed his chain yanked a long time ago. If no one can make a correlation between filtered Twitter propaganda unfiltered to threats on Parler, and the 1/6/21 event then said person needs a mental evaluation. Trump knew that by stating he would not attend the inauguration turned the location into a target. That’s his MO, he indirectly pits people against each other usually in a two step progression.
Back on topic, I saw that an ISP in Idaho was so infuriated by the Trump Twitter ban that they blocked Twitter’s IP address. Interesting recourse to say the least.
Big Tech needs to be regulated. Sorry all you Libertarians/Conservatives. We should have reformed Sec 230 while we had some authority. Oops! I am sure it will better in two years.
Stock market keeps humming. Of course, posters on Parler and JJ and Facebook are smarter than the stock market.
Or, is the money correct?
I hear it was all a mistake, they really only intended to shutdown an administrator for his page. Is he up now, has it been posted ? I don’t follow him and really don’t care to read what he has to say, so I didn’t check.
Sic Semper Tyrranis
There was the Roman Kingdom, then they had the Roman Republic, and finally the Roman Empire. We had the Georges from the British Monarchy, then we became a Constitutional Republic. Possibly now going to the Empire with an Oligarchy. Never know, but been pretty quiet about Covid.
The Bakers had to pay a fine. They were punished. I think I’m gonna sue every liquor store in town for discriminating against me because of my age. Now, that is something I do not have control over. Bigot Age Haters.
3:44 here.
Great to hear about CNN going away in airports.
Oh CNN. The company owned by AT&T. You may be brainwashed if you get your news from a company that has a employee who "flashes" people on a Zoom call, another employee that tries to fight someone when supposed to be in quarantine in a state where his brother is the Governor, and when said company has a market cap of $204 billion and a 7 percent dividend with a PE of 18, but is $160 billion in debt.
I thought private business was off limits to government regulations??
Twitter is not the government.
Twitter can tell all you people to shut up all day....and it’s not a 1st amendment issue.
❄️
Ron Paul is alive?
He should not be censored....he should be in a Casket huh?
"It was not too long ago segregationists operated media outlets such as newspapers and tv stations. They controlled the news as well although their reach was more limited. Human nature's ability to be corrupted by absolute power has not changed regardless of how enlightened we think we are. There is a reason limits were placed on the ownership of tv stations, newspapers, and radio stations. Concentration of media power was considered harmful to the health of the Republic."
Ha! Pot meet Kettle!
Hell, how is that any different in Mississippi in regards to the stranglehold of the conservative-leaning media in the state in 2020? Republicans have a super-majority. Hold all statewide offices. Look at the conservative politicians that submit "editorials" to this web site. Y'all Politics super bias. SuperTalk extra bias towards conservatives. Mississippi PEP another conservative media outlet.
Let's not talk about hurting the Republic, when our own house is not in order.
The issue with Facebook and Twitter is that they are skewed in the way that they are censoring. Censoring one side, but not the other.
Sure, Twitter and Facebook may have the right to censor what they want to, but it's not a good look at all for them to allow a lot of the stuff they allow with no repercussions. Case in point Kathy Gifford. Sure you may not like the president, but he is a sitting president and her picture with his head cut off should have had more done about it. But they didn't. She is one of them. Imagine if another "celebrity"(and I use that term loosely) had that same picture but it was Barak Obama? Think about that with an open mind. Think about all the protests and organizations that are "allowed" by these social media companies to organize and spread their rhetoric with no repercussions. Hell, they even let terrorist's groups in other countries use their platform. Remember when Apple caught hell for not unlocking the iPhones for the San Bernardino shooter? The rub isn't really that they did it, or I feel like with a majority anyway, the rub is with what or who they pick and choose to censor to push their agenda. Who is entitled and who isnt.
There have been some interesting SCOTUS precedents on government, through policy, using private companies to restrict rights that it cannot. Would be interesting to see how it ruled on the Section 230 immunity.
7:34,
3:44/9:44 here.
I'm up 239 percent the last two years in my main account. I can't see the future, but when you see talk of the stock market all over the place then it probably means things are getting frothy.
9:05 those media outlets are kinda out of the way. Your argument would make sense if it were WLBT, WJTV, WAPT, and the Clarion Ledger.
What about the JFP where most of the people seem to be girls in high school or college? Why can't they get older people...oh that's right because they're nuts..talk about brainwashing youth.
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