04/06/2021 / By News Editors
We’ve reached a critical tipping point in the United States in which we’re being turned against one another and silenced via wokism. I submit to you this hypothesis: Big Tech (social media, mainstream media, and companies like Google and Amazon) form an unofficial fourth branch of the government. They’ve gotten so big that they can make sure that billions of people all over the world are never exposed to dissenting opinions.
(Article by Daisy Luther republished from TheOrganicPrepper.com)
We all learn in high school civics (well, we did back when we had high school civics) that the government was made up of three branches that formed a series of checks and balances to keep any single group from holding too much power: executive, judicial, and legislative.
Now, on to my hypothesis. The government cannot constitutionally silence dissent or the free press. It’s right there in the First Amendment, which reads:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Of course, this doesn’t apply to private entities like Facebook, Twitter, or Amazon. They can censor anyone they want because they are not the government. So, is the government using these entities to censor opinions that they, constitutionally, cannot?
Not only are they able to shut down any conversation they want, but they’re also protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. However, with this protection should ethically come the obligation to allow free discourse, something the likes of Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon have been wont to do.
Here’s where their connection to the government comes in.
In my opinion, if they are protected under this law, then they must act impartially in their moderation of content. If they choose not to act impartially, then they should be forced to give up that protection.
That won’t happen, however, because the voices currently being silenced are those that are speaking in opposition to the current administration. Without breaching the First Amendment and governmentally silencing critics, they’re allowing these media and social media outlets to do it for them, making sure that the only voices that are widely heard come from one side of the spectrum. They can do this with full immunity and wanton disregard to liberty because after all, these are private companies, right?
Perhaps not.
If they are moderating only one side of the discussion and allowing the other side of the discussion totally free speech, doesn’t it stand to reason that they must give up this government protection? That if they are moderating the content, then they don’t get the protection of being a free speech outlet?
And moderating it they are. Look at this absurd exchange I had – or tried to have – on Facebook. For reference, the original post was about a dolphin managing to communicate with a diver to save his mate that was stuck and couldn’t get free without human help.
As you can see, the entire thing is absolutely ridiculous. There’s an option to click a button that says “I disagree with this decision” and when you disagree they say, “Thanks for letting us know.” Or in other words, “haha, screw you.”
I think that even the most left-wing true believer can look at the exchange above and see that I was not in the wrong and that if the first comment was allowed, so too, should mine have been. For the record – I’m not a Republican OR a Democrat. I’m also not a hypocrite and I don’t think it’s okay to totally silence one side of an argument.
Read more at: TheOrganicPrepper.com and BigTech.news
Tagged Under: Amazon, Big Tech, Censorship, Facebook, Google, mainstream media, national security, Social media, Twitter