Echo Chambers
The stifling of free speech in this country continues…not a First Amendment violation, of course…the First Amendment only applies when it’s a government-affiliated entity doing the suppression.
There are monopoly implications for the actions of Google and Apple, regarding blocking Parler…that’s the whole Section 230 issue, special privilege given to certain entities. But if you expect a Democrat Congress and a Democrat White House to make changes, don’t hold your breath. Because those behemoths are serving the Democrats’ purposes just fine right now.
The initial response to all this supposedly neutral Twitter censorship is to just move to Parler…but unless there’s an alternative that is not beholden to someone else for server space and app downloads…well, we’re all living through the issues with that simplistic “just move to Parler” approach.
More broadly than all that, however, is the further division within society that will come from a left-wing Twitter and a right-wing Parler…each side will rabidly just be talking to itself, firing up their respective bases, with true exchange of ideas and discourse impossible. Not that it’s been very good for quite a while…but with each side just talking to itself, the ideals of free speech will remain just that–only ideals.
There’s been some talk, supported by Trump family posts on Parler, of a new social media platform set to launch, possibly called Freedom, and possibly being a pay site. But again…that does nothing more than allow the echo chambers to continue, arguably heating things up in two separate platforms.
I recall that early in the Trump presidency, the President attempted to block a couple of Twitter followers because they were replying to his tweets in a nasty manner. He was prohibited from blocking them, because his comments were deemed akin to official presidential speech and therefore could not be denied to those who want it.
Well, I’d say his 80 million followers on Twitter want it. Once again, where you stand…depends on where you sit. Only now, it’s gotten ridiculous in a host of respects.
