Stupid yokel! Thumbs down means 'spare the gladiator'. Everyone knows that! https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016...s-down-meant-the-opposite-of-what-many-think/
"Impeachment is Just the Start: On the riots, the lunacy, and what comes next for America" https://rossbarkan.substack.com/p/impeachment-is-just-the-start excerpt: . . . Many on the left cheered Trump’s banishment from social media and the quick move by Amazon to dump Parler, the right-wing Twitter-like app, from its cloud computing services. Greg Bensinger, a member of the New York Times editorial board, praised the decisions from Facebook and Twitter, calling for “more direct, human moderation of high-profile accounts; more prominent warning labels; software that can delay posts so that they can be reviewed before going out to the masses, especially during moments of high tension; and a far greater willingness to suspend or even completely block dangerous accounts like Mr. Trump’s.” This was general consensus. The problem wasn’t that the ban had come—it was that it had come so late. Trump, of course, had four years to incite violence and hatred from his Twitter account. Imagine what would have happened if the tech elites in Silicon Valley decided to neuter him back in 2017. Imagine the weakness of that presidency. . . . Now, the public square is, quite literally, held in the hands of a few billionaires with no background in news. They have all the power to silence the ideas and voices they do not like. Today, there is cheering because the target of their titanic clout is Trump and his mass of fools. Who’s next? Already, Google and Facebook have been quietly suppressing news on the socialist and hard left. Facebook and Twitter teamed up to slash traffic to a New York Post report on Hunter Biden with dubious sourcing, though it was later revealed the son of the future president was, indeed, under federal investigation. There is nothing illegal about this, no violation of the First Amendment. These are private companies evicting tenants from their turf. The trouble is the turf does not just extend to their property line; it is more like one or three landlords own every apartment on Earth, and they’ve collectively decided to evict you. Before social media, matters of speech were debated in open court, with appellate review. Speakers could argue why their speech should remain protected, courts had to follow precedents, and the rules were largely created by the public, by elected officials or by appointed or elected judges. None of that is present here. Facebook and Twitter and Google and Amazon do not deliberate in public. The courts have no say. The standards do not reside in case law or precedent. The answer to this state of affairs is to crush tech monopolies through existing anti-trust law and the creation of new, regulated business models, a worthy long-term project that is far more useful for the future of democracy than begging Zuckerberg and Bezos to play hall monitor in perpetuity. They are not fit for any editorial task; they are businessmen out to safeguard their own interests. more at the link
Trump can call a news conference anytime he wants. He could call a joint session of Congress and give a speech to the nation anytime he wants. Just because he tweets doesn't mean he's being neutered. Frankly it's a sign of short sightedness and limited to thinking to consider that he is being neutered or stifled. The fact that Ben Shapiro is saying these things on Twitter shows that conservative voices aren't being shut down. Also the First Amendment: "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." It doesn't say anything about Twitter or Mark Zuckerberg. There is no freedom of speech issue here and it's yet a sign of the lack of principles within what passes for Conservatism to argue that private companies enforcing contractual terms of use is considered silencing voices in the public square.
not really a First Amendment issue https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...p-capitol-riot-twitter-ban-aclu-b1785626.html
yes that's what I said. I've also stated it's disappointing for the ACLU to take this position. Also incase you didn't read the whole article it does point out that even accepting that digital media can be considered the public sphere there are limits. From the article: “But there are limits to this principle. A political leader who uses his account to incite violence is causing harms that can’t be countered by speech and can’t be undone by a future election,” Mr Jaffer said. “To take an account down in these circumstances is not an affront to free speech, as some have suggested. To the contrary, it’s the responsible exercise of a First Amendment right,” he added.
When Ben is referring to the left, is he referring to libtards or Muslim terroist sympathizers? Or is it communists and stalinists? Is it unpatriotic Americans also? Or what about cucks? What is this left he is referring to and is there any irony here in that does he place blanket labels of calling the left evil also? Also, what conservative entity is open to the "left"? Is Liberty University welcoming to the left? Is Breitbart friendly to left activists? Fox News?
Imagine how bad things are going to be when that Radical out of the mainstream Biden and Harris are in the White House. Luckily we've seen just how rational, tempered, and reasonable these folks you've continued to cite and defend have been. Look where it's gotten us
He’s not state media though. He’s just having a show and YouTube channel to make money. It’s the opposite of state media like in Iran
there is no Iran level state media in the US, except for voice of America, but that’s intended for foreign audience State media is also media that is indirectly under financial support or editorial control by state actors... we have some of that in the US. Because Fox News often repeat the same talking points as elected official talking points over days and months, they sometime effectively operate as state media.
