Point one: It's pretty much impossible for a non-government entity to commit censorship.
Point one-A: Coercive and intimidating self-censorship practices undertaken in a devil's deal to avoid legal censorship is absolutely possible and happens all the time (see the MPAA).
Point two: Both wings of American politics are pissed off at social media platforms for, essentially, suppressing what they like and allowing what they don't. Wrap it up in whatever wrapper you like: foreign interference, deep fake, lies, slander, what have you, it's all more or less the same when you open the box.
Point two-A: Getting the bulk of our news from a single platform run by a guy who looks like Data's stand-in on Star Trek stepped off the set for a smoke probably wasn't the best idea ever, but it was free, easy, and popular, and we're all about that.
Point three: Aforesaid platforms plan on still being here and still being privately controlled regardless of election results, preferably with as much freedom to do so as possible.
Point four: Social media corporate cultures lean at least somewhat left. Traditional media platforms lean by a significant majority left.
Point four-A: Traditional media overwhelmingly went for the Dems in 2016 and got massive levels of egg on their collective face thanks to Trump's win.
Point five: if Trump wins, about all he can do is bluster at media platforms the same way he has for the last few years. The right's already demonstrated that they're not willing to try messing with section 230. Because they know social media platforms are their best defense and counteroffense against traditional platforms. It's not the 90's anymore, falling back to talk radio isn't a viable option now.
Point six: if Biden wins, especially with one or both houses behind him, the stakes are potentially far higher. Payback for four years of "how dare you let that happen" could and would totally be on the agenda. Punishing social platforms for promoting wrongthink, whether that's my eliminating section 230 or other means, would be easily doable. As described in point one-A above, they don't have to repeal the first Amendment to punish platforms if it's arranged that they bleed legal fees defending the actions of their users in court.
Point seven: We're already years past when the ACLU stopped giving a shit about free speech. The left will gladly watch it go, secure in the knowledge that the only people silenced will be Nazis, haters, -ists, -phobes, and other undesirables. And they'll sleep soundly, secure in the knowledge that such things have no way of coming back to bite them in the ass later.
The poor fuckers.
Long story short, more people getting kicked off of more platforms, usually for being somewhere on the right and not keeping their mouth shut.
Ready for this wretched year to be over, but it's not cold enough to hibernate yet.
Take care of yourselves out there.
Point one-A: Coercive and intimidating self-censorship practices undertaken in a devil's deal to avoid legal censorship is absolutely possible and happens all the time (see the MPAA).
Point two: Both wings of American politics are pissed off at social media platforms for, essentially, suppressing what they like and allowing what they don't. Wrap it up in whatever wrapper you like: foreign interference, deep fake, lies, slander, what have you, it's all more or less the same when you open the box.
Point two-A: Getting the bulk of our news from a single platform run by a guy who looks like Data's stand-in on Star Trek stepped off the set for a smoke probably wasn't the best idea ever, but it was free, easy, and popular, and we're all about that.
Point three: Aforesaid platforms plan on still being here and still being privately controlled regardless of election results, preferably with as much freedom to do so as possible.
Point four: Social media corporate cultures lean at least somewhat left. Traditional media platforms lean by a significant majority left.
Point four-A: Traditional media overwhelmingly went for the Dems in 2016 and got massive levels of egg on their collective face thanks to Trump's win.
Point five: if Trump wins, about all he can do is bluster at media platforms the same way he has for the last few years. The right's already demonstrated that they're not willing to try messing with section 230. Because they know social media platforms are their best defense and counteroffense against traditional platforms. It's not the 90's anymore, falling back to talk radio isn't a viable option now.
Point six: if Biden wins, especially with one or both houses behind him, the stakes are potentially far higher. Payback for four years of "how dare you let that happen" could and would totally be on the agenda. Punishing social platforms for promoting wrongthink, whether that's my eliminating section 230 or other means, would be easily doable. As described in point one-A above, they don't have to repeal the first Amendment to punish platforms if it's arranged that they bleed legal fees defending the actions of their users in court.
Point seven: We're already years past when the ACLU stopped giving a shit about free speech. The left will gladly watch it go, secure in the knowledge that the only people silenced will be Nazis, haters, -ists, -phobes, and other undesirables. And they'll sleep soundly, secure in the knowledge that such things have no way of coming back to bite them in the ass later.
The poor fuckers.
Long story short, more people getting kicked off of more platforms, usually for being somewhere on the right and not keeping their mouth shut.
Ready for this wretched year to be over, but it's not cold enough to hibernate yet.
Take care of yourselves out there.
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