The repressive objective of the Democratic-controlled Congress is to transfer the power to police and censor political discourse from these tech giants to themselves.
It's always depressing to read about the erosion of civil liberties in this country, although your description of Zuck's testimony made me laugh pretty hard.
"For every question directed to him, he paused for several seconds, had his internal algorithms search for the relevant place in the metaphorical cassette inserted in a hidden box in his back, uttered the word “Congressman” or “Congresswoman,” stopped for several more seconds to search for the next applicable spot in the spine-cassette, and then proceeded unblinkingly to recite the words slowly transmitted into his neurons. One could practically see the gears in his head painfully churning as the cassette rewound or fast-forwarded."
Even if you tortured that metaphor to the point where it's crying on the floor in a pool of its own tears, blood, and urine, that was an amazing, almost Taibbi-esque sequence of imagery. Well done, Greenwald.
Great job Glenn! Please keep reporting on these very important events. Democrats are actively trying to dismantle the Constitution. Their assault on the 1st & 2nd amendments should shock every citizen in America!
You don't know how much it heartens me to know that people like Greenwald still think and write, although I worry how much longer that will be possible. All those who love freedom and understand how much it is threatened in 2021 need to stick together, regardless of our views on other things.
Exactly. Left or Right is just a luxury, when you are threatened by tyranny. The original liberals were Whigs and conservatives. The true liberal left and the liberal right must coalesce and support each other, or suffer the consequences.
Seems lawmakers want to just outlaw dissent! Package it up for our "safety" so we don't hear bad words or whatever the flavor of the month of offense is
It'll always be possible to think and write. It'll just get harder to find for a while, until the corporate press finishes eating itself. Don't get too excited. This could take a while.
this isn't a partisan issue. we all will suffer if the government is able to censor what we're allowed to discuss, using private monopolies as a buffer. I honestly don't mind if social media companies have monopolies (advertising is a different issue) but when authoritarian censorship rots the foundations of the public square that's when Congress needs to step in and destroy them so an more neutral company can take its place. Sadly we're moving in the opposite is happening.
also the irony of threatening to take away their 230 protections if companies don't censor more seems lost on our elected politicians. sigh...where's my bleach?
Spot on. Free speech is the enemy of Nazis, not their friend. But it's also the enemy of Dems and Republicans. By pushing for censorship, Dems are brazenly showing their contempt for free speech and the First Amendment, using far-right narratives on the Internet to hide their real intent. Censorship is the friend of all tyrants. Down with ALL tyrants.
So the 20th's Century's triumvirate of dystopic novels were all prophetic. We have a ministry of truth setting fire to contraband, and pharmaceutical soma to get us through the oppression without all those pesky emotions.
Hat tip to Rollerball, as we no longer have public intellectuals or really any public figures at all shared across society. Didn't see that coming.
Which leaves us with the question: how to resist? I'm not seeing any great viable options. Escape seems the best, but where to?
If these people were about enforcing the constitution they swore to uphold, they would still be having hearings on censorship, but about how there's far too many calls for it on Capitol Hill. The first amendment is clear: the government shall not be in the business of regulating speech. Their blatant, willful disregard (contempt even) for this American bedrock is shamefully appalling. They hate the first amendment and will do everything in their power to negate it if not strike it from the constitution when yet another big decision affirms it in the Supreme Court. Media will approvingly nod their heads in unison. The biggest, age-old problem with professional politicians (and this pertains to both sides of the aisle) is that the profession generally attracts the type of person who is least suited to be one.
Hey Glenn. Great reporting as always. Can you unblock me on Twitter? Pretty please. I think you did not understand a joke about how you have been on a lucky hot streak for the last ten years of your reporting.
Historically, cries for censorship in the U.S. are as common as our boasts about how the 1st Amendment makes us the greatest nation in the world. From John Adams to Joe McCarthy to Tipper Gore, our first instinct is to censor in response to the fear du jour. Reporters Without Borders' 2020 Press Freedom Index ranks the U.S. 45th. AOC, et al, need a history lesson on how history almost always views censorship as a cure that's worse than the disease.
If these MSTech owners had a backbone or sense of decency between them, they could just say no to congress, regardless of the threats of legislation issued against them.
They've got the perfect tool to inform millions of voters of the dangers this censorship poses to ALL of them, regardless of political persuasion, and ask for them to advocate on their behalf by badgering elected representatives.
But they don't.
The disingenuous fools are complicit in their own downfall & everyone's collective misery.
Shame on all 3 of the gutless, greedy fkrs.
Why anyone but eejits use their platform is beyond me. Sorry, I know that will be offensive to many, but......really?
I have a simple question that I hope that someone can answer in simple terms (so that I can understand it): Why can't Parler be reinstated and made functional again, since it is evidently what people really want? How can this be controlled by Apple, Google and Amazon?
The Atlantic group is who Facebook partnered with to work out their censorship. This is a NeoCon group that promotes war and funds itself in selling access to government officials throughout the world. No one seems to address where the nuts and bolts of this are being processed and controlled. Too many lose sight based on Google's outspoken slant and upset they could not stop Trump from getting elected.
It's always depressing to read about the erosion of civil liberties in this country, although your description of Zuck's testimony made me laugh pretty hard.
"content moderation" is newspeak for book burning.
perfect!
"For every question directed to him, he paused for several seconds, had his internal algorithms search for the relevant place in the metaphorical cassette inserted in a hidden box in his back, uttered the word “Congressman” or “Congresswoman,” stopped for several more seconds to search for the next applicable spot in the spine-cassette, and then proceeded unblinkingly to recite the words slowly transmitted into his neurons. One could practically see the gears in his head painfully churning as the cassette rewound or fast-forwarded."
Even if you tortured that metaphor to the point where it's crying on the floor in a pool of its own tears, blood, and urine, that was an amazing, almost Taibbi-esque sequence of imagery. Well done, Greenwald.
Great job Glenn! Please keep reporting on these very important events. Democrats are actively trying to dismantle the Constitution. Their assault on the 1st & 2nd amendments should shock every citizen in America!
You don't know how much it heartens me to know that people like Greenwald still think and write, although I worry how much longer that will be possible. All those who love freedom and understand how much it is threatened in 2021 need to stick together, regardless of our views on other things.
Exactly. Left or Right is just a luxury, when you are threatened by tyranny. The original liberals were Whigs and conservatives. The true liberal left and the liberal right must coalesce and support each other, or suffer the consequences.
Seems lawmakers want to just outlaw dissent! Package it up for our "safety" so we don't hear bad words or whatever the flavor of the month of offense is
It'll always be possible to think and write. It'll just get harder to find for a while, until the corporate press finishes eating itself. Don't get too excited. This could take a while.
this isn't a partisan issue. we all will suffer if the government is able to censor what we're allowed to discuss, using private monopolies as a buffer. I honestly don't mind if social media companies have monopolies (advertising is a different issue) but when authoritarian censorship rots the foundations of the public square that's when Congress needs to step in and destroy them so an more neutral company can take its place. Sadly we're moving in the opposite is happening.
also the irony of threatening to take away their 230 protections if companies don't censor more seems lost on our elected politicians. sigh...where's my bleach?
I’m waiting for the usual liberal dissembling...
Spot on. Free speech is the enemy of Nazis, not their friend. But it's also the enemy of Dems and Republicans. By pushing for censorship, Dems are brazenly showing their contempt for free speech and the First Amendment, using far-right narratives on the Internet to hide their real intent. Censorship is the friend of all tyrants. Down with ALL tyrants.
So the 20th's Century's triumvirate of dystopic novels were all prophetic. We have a ministry of truth setting fire to contraband, and pharmaceutical soma to get us through the oppression without all those pesky emotions.
Hat tip to Rollerball, as we no longer have public intellectuals or really any public figures at all shared across society. Didn't see that coming.
Which leaves us with the question: how to resist? I'm not seeing any great viable options. Escape seems the best, but where to?
Yep checking out other countries now, but alas no one accepts Americans (at least not from the US)
1984, Brave New World...what's the third dystopic novel of the "triumvirate?"
Here's another: "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand, 1956.
Another useless hearing on Tech censorship.
If these people were about enforcing the constitution they swore to uphold, they would still be having hearings on censorship, but about how there's far too many calls for it on Capitol Hill. The first amendment is clear: the government shall not be in the business of regulating speech. Their blatant, willful disregard (contempt even) for this American bedrock is shamefully appalling. They hate the first amendment and will do everything in their power to negate it if not strike it from the constitution when yet another big decision affirms it in the Supreme Court. Media will approvingly nod their heads in unison. The biggest, age-old problem with professional politicians (and this pertains to both sides of the aisle) is that the profession generally attracts the type of person who is least suited to be one.
Hey Glenn. Great reporting as always. Can you unblock me on Twitter? Pretty please. I think you did not understand a joke about how you have been on a lucky hot streak for the last ten years of your reporting.
Historically, cries for censorship in the U.S. are as common as our boasts about how the 1st Amendment makes us the greatest nation in the world. From John Adams to Joe McCarthy to Tipper Gore, our first instinct is to censor in response to the fear du jour. Reporters Without Borders' 2020 Press Freedom Index ranks the U.S. 45th. AOC, et al, need a history lesson on how history almost always views censorship as a cure that's worse than the disease.
If these MSTech owners had a backbone or sense of decency between them, they could just say no to congress, regardless of the threats of legislation issued against them.
They've got the perfect tool to inform millions of voters of the dangers this censorship poses to ALL of them, regardless of political persuasion, and ask for them to advocate on their behalf by badgering elected representatives.
But they don't.
The disingenuous fools are complicit in their own downfall & everyone's collective misery.
Shame on all 3 of the gutless, greedy fkrs.
Why anyone but eejits use their platform is beyond me. Sorry, I know that will be offensive to many, but......really?
I have a simple question that I hope that someone can answer in simple terms (so that I can understand it): Why can't Parler be reinstated and made functional again, since it is evidently what people really want? How can this be controlled by Apple, Google and Amazon?
Such a FANTASTIC article!!!
The Atlantic group is who Facebook partnered with to work out their censorship. This is a NeoCon group that promotes war and funds itself in selling access to government officials throughout the world. No one seems to address where the nuts and bolts of this are being processed and controlled. Too many lose sight based on Google's outspoken slant and upset they could not stop Trump from getting elected.