The White House has admitted the administration is identifying ‘problematic’ posts for Facebook to delete because they contain ‘misinformation’ about Covid. How soon before this practice extends to political opponents?
If you are late to the table, the Biden press secretary Jen Psaki announced to the media that: “We are in regular touch with the social media platforms and those engagements typically happen through members of our senior staff and also members of our Covid-19 team...this is a big issue, of misinformation, specifically on the pandemic.”
Why are they doing this? Americans are asking questions about the virus and coming to conclusions when it comes to what Joe is trying to do to reach his vaccination goals for the country. For those individuals seeking more than the forced response from the White House, it seems they are becoming a danger to the administration's propaganda.
The administration using Big Tech to keep the sheep in line is the proverbial ‘slippery slope’. First, the government states that they are only looking at ‘misinformation’ related to American’s health (how admirable), but then, of course, there will come a time when some story that they consider ‘misinformation’ about a high-level politician or favored member of the elite, must also be censored for the good of the American people (remember what happened with Hunter Biden and his dodgy laptop et al. during the election campaign?).
Also on rt.com ‘Accusations not supported by facts’: Facebook dismisses Biden’s charge of ‘killing people’ with Covid-19 misinfo in fiery rebukeSocial media platforms are the only source of information for many people, unfortunately. So the White House’s ability to shape and manipulate opinions is easy. Just look at the 2020 election to see the results.
When government colludes with the Big Tech companies that currently control most of our communications because they think we're too dumb to think for ourselves, that's a concern. It becomes downright terrifying when you consider the possibility that maybe they don't actually believe we're too dumb to think for ourselves. There is a fundamental reason behind the fact that our government was chartered in such a way as to limit forever the ability of our leaders to restrict the unrestrained exchange of ideas among citizens.
The problem with Big Government censorship and socialism is that you can comfortably slide your way into them incrementally, losing your freedoms and your own money one little piece at a time. Still, eventually, you have to find your way out of it, even at the risk of being repeatedly told by self-serving politicians and their obedient bureaucrats, Big Tech, and the mainstream media that you are an insurrectionist or extremist.
If social media use their own medical expertise – they can surely afford it – to monitor and evaluate information from the Centers for Disease Control (CAC) and others, subsequently adapting how they deal with potential misinformation, that's okay. IF, on the other hand, the federal government provides ‘directions’, that would be a violation of our First Amendment.
Regardless of your political affiliation, you need to be concerned. Whatever one side of the aisle does today, will set a precedent that can be used by the other side tomorrow.
Unfortunately, Big Tech is becoming a lapdog for government censorship. Even if there are no nefarious intentions behind the current implementation of this practice, it opens a floodgate of risk for individual liberties in the future.
Also on rt.com Love him or hate him, Donald Trump is the one maverick who can free Americans from the Big Tech gulagToday Biden's boys and non-binaries see the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights as obstacles preventing them from achieving their globalist collectivist endgame.
Ignoring the First Amendment with an epidemic of censorship directed from the White House, is simply par for the course as Biden's regime habitually breaches its oath to defend the Constitution from foreign and domestic enemies.
The truth is, the president and his loyalist sick sycophants are domestic enemies of the Constitution and are closely allied with foreign enemies of the way we live.
All Americans by now are aware they could get vaccinated. If the vaccinations work, why would a vaccinated person care what others do? Threatening the economy? What about studies that have shown masks and lockdowns don't work to slow the spread? And ones that show natural immunity is equal or superior to vaccinated immunity? To quote the libs…it’s the science, dummy!
All of our social media has come under some form of censorship by those that own and manage them! Unfortunately, most of this censorship is political in nature, designed to limit ideas and comments unaligned with the various political beliefs of the owners and managers. If only there were as hard on all the stalkers, criminals, and physically-harmful misinformation online.
While I believe certain limited product protection can be righteous in this regard, what these people have done goes far beyond the pale and needs to be corrected by harsh laws that will ensure the free flow of reliable information and discourse.
Also on rt.com New book ‘An Ugly Truth’ propagates the widespread prejudice that Facebook users are gullible children in need of protectionThe Marxist, the communist, or whatever form of statist movement has been growing in the US since World War II, seems to have succeeded because it has remained reasonably stealthy and below the radar.
In the past, its adherents have had to tread lightly because there was always going to be many media or even academics willing to expose them. That has changed dramatically. Even academics who strongly oppose authoritarianism will no longer speak up, and over 90% of the mainstream media has joined the ‘cause’, no matter how extreme.
Democrats have become brazen. They violate the Constitution and US law with impunity. They defend communists and communism, and they show an increasing disdain for their own country. Ordinary Americans are waking up to what is going on, however. That so many educated ‘liberals’ can't see the obvious is troubling.
Hopefully, it's not too late to change course.
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The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.