Facebook is a Publisher
Considering their recent actions, they really ought to be considered a publisher, and not a platform.
So Facebook and Instagram (of which is owned by Facebook) have decided to ban Milo Yiannopoulos, Laura Loomer, Alex Jones, Paul Joseph Watson (including content from InfoWars), and, curiously, Louis Farrakhan, from their site. Even mentioning any of these people or posting their content without explicitly denouncing it is enough to get YOU banned.
Now, anyone who is paying attention to politics and the culture wars knows why this was done. Whether you like any of them or not (and I am talking about all of them except Louis Farrakhan), they’ve all been effective at helping get Trump elected President.
We’re about halfway into 2019 and the election is still about a year and a half away, so it’s no surprise they’re getting ready now. Only Democrats are allowed to use these social media platforms to promote their policies and candidates. Not Republicans. These people are just the canaries in the coal mine.
As for Louis Farrakhan, they’re only including him so they can say, “see, we’re not biased against the right!” The media reporting the bannings, however, repeatedly refers to him as far-right. We all know he’s not far-right, he’s just a Muslim black supremacist. Those people aren’t fond of the gays or the Jews, and that’s one thing they have in common with the so-called far-right.
So now, what do we do? I’ve already listed alternatives to Facebook and Twitter. There’s quite a few Facebook alternatives, but only two Twitter alternatives (unless you count Mastodon) – Gab and one I discovered a few months ago, Parler. Parler is a Twitter clone and even has a mobile app you can use, unlike Gab. Milo has long had an account there, and has decided to use that for the time being (since he’s friends with Vox Day, I guess that’s one reason why he shuns Gab).
I also want to mention the app Telegram – it’s like WhatsApp, I guess, but without the connection to Facebook. It’s text message style chat and you can have people “follow” your “channel” for one-way texting. It can also be considered a Twitter alternative, I guess. Milo’s using that too.
I have a secret Twitter account, one in which I don’t engage with leftists because they’re fond of mass reporting people whenever they get their feefees hurt, so I just avoid talking to them at all. I’ve noticed a lot of prominent right-wingers with blue checkmarks, and it made me think. Part of the problem is that these people haven’t moved to another platform in solidarity with those that have been banned. It’s probably for a lot of reasons, but if they think the left won’t come for them, they’re deluded. As I said, canaries in coal mines and all that.
If more of these more palatable right-wingers left Facebook and Twitter for these alternatives, their fanbases would follow and we’d be able to continue to get out the message. It isn’t working out for us anymore. The only reason to stay is to stick it to the left and say, “we aren’t going to be driven away!”
So my proposal is this – they need to prepare for the inevitable. Everyone does. You don’t have to quit your precious Facebook and Twitter cold-turkey (although if you can, you should…Facebook is using and selling your data, and they don’t deserve it – they’re not interested in honoring your privacy). Just set up an account with any of the alternatives and tell your friends. Post to those accounts frequently, to give people a reason for coming back.
Pretty soon you’ll get used to using them, and you’ll also get used to being able to say whatever the hell you want without some whiny leftist moron getting their precious little feefees hurt.
Meanwhile, we all need to contact our representatives in Congress. Let them know that since Facebook and Twitter are now curating their content – AND THEY ARE – they are no longer public platforms…they’re publishers and should be held liable for everything that’s published on their sites.
Don’t let these totalitarian leftist assholes chill your speech.