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Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars #167524
07/18/2018 10:38 AM
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Dem Congressman Pressures Facebook to Ban Infowars During Live Hearing

Demands to know “how many strikes” it would take to bring Infowars page down

Paul Joseph Watson | Infowars.com - July 17, 2018

Democratic Congressman Ted Deutch (D-FL) pressured Facebook to ban Infowars during a hearing into social media censorship today on Capitol Hill.

During the House Judiciary Committee inquiry into social media bias, Deutch attempted to lobby Facebook’s Monika Bickert, Head of Global Policy Management, into banning Infowars content.

“You recently decided not to ban Infowars, can you explain that decision?” asked Deutch, who had spent the previous few minutes demanding to know why content that challenges mainstream narratives about news events is allowed on YouTube.

Bickert responded by saying that content which violated the company’s policies was removed and that “at a certain point, we would also remove the page or the group at issue.”

Deutch then demanded to know, “how many strikes” it would take to have Infowars removed from Facebook.

Bickert said Facebook would continue to monitor and remove content from the Infowars page and that, “If they posted sufficient content that it violated our threshold, the page would come down.”

This follows attempts last week by CNN’s senior media reporter Oliver Darcy to lobby Facebook to ban Infowars.

This is not the first time that censoring Infowars has cropped up as a topic of conversation during a live Congressional hearing.

During a November 2017 House Intelligence Committee hearing on “Russian interference,” Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) demanded to know why an Infowars story about New York Mayor Mike De Blasio ignoring warnings about radicalization of terrorists in mosques was appearing at the top of Twitter’s trending hashtag page.

Twitter General Counsel Sean Edgett assured Quigley that actions were being taken to make sure it wouldn’t happen again.

As we reported yesterday, there is a full on assault to downrank and censor Infowars and other conservative and pro-Trump media outlets in anticipation of the upcoming mid-term elections.

By lobbying Big Tech to silence independent voices, the left hopes they can stop the kind of momentum and reach that helped Donald Trump win the White House.

The relevant section from today’s hearing can be viewed at 1:47.57 in the video below.


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167592
07/25/2018 05:01 PM
07/25/2018 05:01 PM
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Twitter "shadow bans" affect conservative leaders, but not their liberal counterparts. What a shock.

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Twitter appears to be "shadow-banning" several conservative leaders. In other words, their accounts don't show up when users search for them in the dropdown bar.

Those affected include Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and Donald Trump Jr. spokesperson Andrew Surabian, as well as the verified accounts of Reps. Mark Meadows (R–N.C.), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), and Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), according to Vice News. Twitter users can still find their profiles with a manual search, but the accounts don't auto-populate in the search bar.

Something similar has happened to white nationalists such as Richard Spencer and right-wing trolls such as Mike Cernovich, Gizmodo reports. But other controversial figures on the far right, including Infowars founder Alex Jones and Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler, still show up in the dropdown search bar.

There does not appear to be a comparable crackdown on the left, says Vice:

[quote] McDaniel's counterpart, Democratic Party chair Tom Perez, and liberal members of Congress—including Reps. Maxine Waters, Joe Kennedy III, Keith Ellison, and Mark Pocan—all continue to appear in drop-down search results. Not a single member of the 78-person Progressive Caucus faces the same in Twitter's search.

So why are prominent Republicans being shadow-banned while their Democratic counterparts aren't? It's not exactly clear, and Twitter doesn't seem willing to provide an answer. "We are aware that some accounts are not automatically populating in our search box and shipping a change to address this," a spokesperson for the social media company tells Vice, adding that "our technology is based on account *behavior* not the content of Tweets."

Twitter did announce in May that it planned to address the issue of trolls in a way that ensures that "people contributing to the healthy conversation will be more visible in conversations and search." This may be why Spencer and Cernovich don't autopopulate in the search bar anymore, but it doesn't explain what's happened to McDaniel, Surabian, and various Republican legislators.

Conservatives have long accused Twitter and Facebook of censoring their viewpoints. In May, McDaniel and Brad Parscale, who's running President Donald Trump's 2020 campaign, sent a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asking them to look into their companies' alleged anti-conservative bias.

Both companies say they're taking the accusations seriously, but many conservatives don't seem to be placated. "This type of opaque behavior by social media companies is exactly why conservatives are speaking out and demanding more transparency and accountability," House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) tells Vice. "The bias has to stop."


Onward and upward,
airforce

Last edited by airforce; 07/25/2018 05:02 PM.
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167593
07/25/2018 05:46 PM
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I know for fact that google has been doing this to numerous Christian, conservative, constitutional, alternate media and 2nd amendment sites for quite some time.


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167596
07/26/2018 10:08 AM
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Tech Investors Start To Panic As Facebook’s Stock Price Plunges More Than 20 Percent

130 billion dollars in just two hours?

Michael Snyder | Economic Collapse - July 26, 2018

Is this the beginning of the fall of Facebook? After announcing disappointing numbers for the second quarter on Wednesday, Facebook’s stock price plunged more than 20 percent in after-hours trading.

If that decline holds on Thursday, it will be the biggest stock price drop in Facebook’s entire history. But the truth is that we will probably see the stock price bounce back a bit, because Wednesday’s crash was almost certainly an overreaction. Unlike many other tech companies, Facebook is still making lots of money, and the number of users globally is still growing. However, there are definitely some huge red flags. In the U.S. and Canada the number of users is stagnant, and in Europe the number of users is actually declining. Facebook’s user base is aging as many young people abandon the platform for trendier alternatives, and there is a growing backlash among conservatives against the tremendous censorship that we have seen in recent months. People are hungry for an alternative, and if something more appealing comes along Facebook could ultimately suffer the same fate as MySpace very rapidly.

Stock prices tend to fall a lot faster than they go up, but what happened to Facebook on Wednesday was truly breathtaking…

Facebook lost about $130 billion in market value in just two hours, its steepest stock decline ever, after warning of slowing sales growth.

The stock, which plunged as much as 24% in after-hours trading Wednesday, had a cascading effect on competitors Snap and Twitter, which dropped, too. Traders are bracing for a decline in tech stocks when the markets open Thursday.

130 billion dollars in just two hours?

In 2018, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been selling Facebook stock like crazy, and that is probably a good thing because his remaining holdings declined by 16.8 billion dollars during the crash. If the stock price does not bounce back, Zuckerberg will slip all the way from third place to sixth place on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

He won’t exactly be hurting, but this shows us how fast things can start to move once investors begin to panic.

So exactly why did Facebook’s stock crash on Wednesday? Well, it turns out that revenue growth and user growth were lower than expected…

The problem: weaker-than-expected revenue growth, Facebook’s first such miss since 2015. It recorded sales of $13.23 billion for the three months ended in June, short of the $13.3 billion Wall Street anticipated.

Also alarming to investors: Facebook’s growth is slowing with users in some of its most lucrative markets. Facebook reported its slowest growth rate ever, with 2.23 billion people logging in at least once a month in June, below the 2.25 billion analysts expected.

In addition to the factors that I mentioned above, Europe’s new privacy law and the Cambridge Analytica scandal are really taking a toll…

The second-quarter results were the first sign that a new European privacy law and a succession of privacy scandals involving Cambridge Analytica and other app developers have bit into Facebook’s business. The company further warned that the toll would not be offset by revenue growth from emerging markets and Facebook’s Instagram app, which has been more immune from privacy concerns.

Ultimately, the adjustment to Europe’s new privacy law and the fallout from the Cambridge Analytica scandal are just temporary.

Facebook should be much more concerned about the fact that conservatives are getting completely fed up with the rampant censorship on the platform. During a media event on Wednesday, Facebook executives openly admitted that they are limiting distribution of certain viewpoints…

The kerfuffle started when Fidji Simo, Facebook’s vice president of video, was asked about Infowars stories on their platform while touting new Facebook Watch entertainment shows.

“To be totally transparent, I find Infowars to be absolutely atrocious,” Simo replied. “That being said, we have the hard job of balancing freedom of expression and safety. So the way we navigate that is we think there’s a pretty big difference between what is allowed on Facebook and what gets distribution. So what we’re trying to do is make it so that if you are saying something that’s untrue on Facebook — you’re allowed to say it as long as you’re an authentic person and you adhere to our community standards — but we’re trying to make it so it doesn’t get that much distribution .… We don’t always get it right, as you can imagine, it’s very complicated, but that’s sort of our principle for dealing with information.”

We are in the midst of the greatest purge of anti-establishment voices in Internet history, and Facebook is leading the charge. More accounts are being “shadowbanned” or terminated completely on a daily basis, and conservatives just keep getting angrier and angrier at Facebook.

For now, most conservatives continue to use Facebook. Like a lot of other people, I use it simply because it seems like everyone else is using it.

But eventually a more appealing alternative is going to come along.

Before Facebook, MySpace seemed like it was so dominant that nobody could ever compete with it. But of course Facebook ultimately crushed MySpace, and now MySpace is barely surviving.

In addition to a potentially enormous conservative backlash, Facebook should be deeply alarmed that young people are abandoning the platform in massive numbers…

Teenagers have abandoned Facebook in favour of other social media platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram, according to a study from the Pew Research Center.

Just 51% of US individuals aged 13 to 17 say they use Facebook – a dramatic plunge from the 71% who said they used the social network in Pew’s previous study in 2015, when it was the dominant online platform.

We may very well look back someday and identify 2018 as the turning point for Facebook.

For now it is considered to be worth more than 600 billion dollars, but that market price won’t last forever.

One of these days a new and better competitor will arise, and Facebook will be consigned to the trash heap of history.

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"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167598
07/26/2018 12:43 PM
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Whenever you think you're having a bad day, just think about Mark Zuckerberg losing $17,000,000,000 in two hours.

Onward and upward,
airforce

Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: airforce] #167601
07/26/2018 07:03 PM
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Schadenfreude.....FB lost McDonalds in two hours...


Emergency Medicine - saving the world from themselves, one at a time.

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Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167611
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It should make them think that selling out the American public to the communists is not as good an idea as they thought it was. I rarely go on fakebook and I never post anything of importance there. Not to mention I had a hacker contact me that he was going to post embarrassing information about me on my fakebook. I laughed at that one.

Last edited by Mexneck; 07/28/2018 11:45 AM.

Well, this is it.
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167676
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Purged: Facebook Permanently Bans Infowars For “Hate Speech”

Apple also deletes podcasts as Big Tech censorship intensifies

Paul Joseph Watson | Infowars.com - August 6, 2018

Facebook has permanently banned Infowars for using language that is derogatory towards Muslims, transgender people and immigrants in a shocking intensification of Big Tech’s censorship purge.

Facebook announced in a blog post that the four main Infowars pages were “unpublished for repeated violations of Community Standards and accumulating too many strikes.”

“More content from the same Pages has been reported to us — upon review, we have taken it down for glorifying violence, which violates our graphic violence policy, and using dehumanizing language to describe people who are transgender, Muslims and immigrants, which violates our hate speech policies,” states the post.

Facebook has permanently BANNED Infowars.

For unspecified "hate speech". They didn't even tell us what the offending posts were.

This sets a chilling precedent for free speech.

To all other conservative news outlets – you are next.

The great censorship purge has truly begun. pic.twitter.com/v7Yo9hI0q3

— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) August 6, 2018

Facebook did not specifically state which posts or videos violated their policies or in what way.

The termination of the pages follows an intensive lobbying campaign by the likes of CNN and BuzzFeed to pressure Facebook into banning Infowars.

A reminder that Facebook banned Infowars after lobbying by both CNN and Democratic Congressman Ted Deutch (D-FL).

This isn't "just a private company," this is political censorship.https://t.co/JHKP1vnQ3k

— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) August 6, 2018

Last month, Democratic Congressman Ted Deutch (D-FL) also pressured Facebook to ban Infowars during a hearing into social media censorship on Capitol Hill.

Wikileaks responded to the news with a warning that the ban represents a “global anti-trust problem.”

“Infowars says it has been banned by Facebook for unspecified ‘hate speech’. Regardless of the facts in this case, the ability of Facebook to censor rival publishers is a global anti-trust problem, which along with San Francisco cultural imperialism, reduces political diversity,” said the whistleblower organization in a tweet.

Infowars says it has been banned by Facebook for unspecified 'hate speech'. Regardless of the facts in this case, the ability of Facebook to censor rivial publishers is a global anti-trust problem, which along with San Francisco cultural imperialism, reduces political diversity. https://t.co/xb5oY2JHzy

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 6, 2018

In a related story, Apple also announced that it had removed the five main Infowars podcasts from its directory.

What we are witnessing is an ideological purge intended to re-define the very concept of free speech.

If free speech does not include controversial/unpopular/offensive speech, it doesn’t exist.

A society in which free speech doesn’t exist is doomed to collapse into authoritarianism.

The argument that Facebook and other social media giants are “private companies” and can do what they like is also a complete misnomer.

Big Tech have formed a monopoly by swallowing up content and they are now working hand in hand with the establishment media and leftist politicians to silence independent voices.

Whether you love or loathe Infowars, this now confirms that Big Tech is working with legacy media and lawmakers to silence independent media.

In places like Russia, the government shuts down the press, in America, CNN, Apple and Facebook fulfil that role.

Please continue to pressure lawmakers into enacting real solutions to secure digital rights and free speech online by circulating our master guide to online censorship and signing our petition to uphold free speech.

Now that Facebook has banned Infowars, it will be very interesting to see which conservative news outlets and commentators speak out and which ones remain complicit in silence.

Whatever you think of Infowars, they're coming for you next.

— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) August 6, 2018


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167677
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Leftists Cheer Apple Purging Alex Jones From iTunes For ‘Hate Speech,’ Demand More Censorship

Even though America has no laws against “hate speech,” Apple is acting as speech police and moving hard to shut down opinions which go against their globalist agenda

Chris Menahan | Information Liberation - August 6, 2018

Tom Cook’s trillion dollar megacorp has purged a host of Alex Jones’s podcasts saying they will “not tolerate hate speech” on iTunes and leftists are ecstatic.

Even though America has no laws against “hate speech,” Apple is acting as speech police and moving hard to shut down opinions which go against their globalist agenda.

From Washington Post:

Apple has wiped iTunes and its podcasting app virtually clean of content by Alex Jones, in one of the most aggressive moves by streaming services and technology companies against the conspiracy theorist and owner of the right-wing media platform Infowars.

As of Sunday, just one program provided by Infowars remained, RealNews with David Knight. But the decision to completely pull other shows, including “The Alex Jones Show” and “War Room,” represents a more severe response than those taken by other companies in recent days limiting Jones’s reach. Last week Spotify removed several episodes of “The Alex Jones Show,” following similar moves by YouTube and Facebook the week before.

[…]In a statement Sunday to The Washington Post, Apple confirmed its decision to remove Jones’s shows from its directory, a move first reported by BuzzFeed.

“Apple does not tolerate hate speech, and we have clear guidelines that creators and developers must follow to ensure we provide a safe environment for all of our users,” a spokesperson said. “Podcasts that violate these guidelines are removed from our directory making them no longer searchable or available for download or streaming. We believe in representing a wide range of views, so long as people are respectful to those with differing opinions.”

Leftists cheered the censorship and called for more on Twitter:

Looking at you @Spotify. You gonna take that lying down?

— VoteThemOUT (@VoteBlueNow) August 6, 2018

Now, how do we get fox "news" off Comcast and DirecTV?

— everstochance❄🌊🌀 (@everstochance) August 6, 2018

Only a few years later than it should have happened. But yeah… this needs to happen.

— The Jasunator.🌈👍🏾 (@doctorjasun) August 6, 2018

Yep. This will only get him off the official Podcasts app and iTunes, but he'll still be available elsewhere. It's a start. Also, queue the "OMG my First Amendment!" trolls.

— Rob 🌊 🌊 🌊 (@robdaemon) August 6, 2018

Excellent news.

— ☇RiotWomenn☇ (@riotwomennn) August 6, 2018

Next up, provided that @Google & @YouTube do the right thing: end Infowars/@RealAlexJones on the YouTube platform.

Do they want to aid & abet in the destruction of our democracy, the rise of dangerous conspiracies that result in violence, the deterioration of American intellect?

— darsky: Crusader for Justice (@darsky) August 6, 2018

pic.twitter.com/zhPqVIrPEt

— JaneyK (@janeyk72) August 6, 2018

The Democrats and their billionaire backers are working in concert to shut down all speech which goes against their globalist agenda.

America's Richest Billionaires Are Overwhelmingly Leftists, Democrats And Open Borders Globalists https://t.co/dGx0pSfG4f

— Chris Menahan 🔹 (@infolibnews) July 29, 2018

Gone are the days of leftists hating on corporations and warning of a dystopian future world run by global capitalists and in are the days of leftists cheering a dystopian present where global capitalists shut down all speech they disagree with to crush a middle class revolt.

'Please Stop Pretending You're A Rebel!' @AnnCoulter Mocks The Resistance For Being 'Lockstep With Corporate America' https://t.co/khGoyb2Lzu

— Chris Menahan 🔹 (@infolibnews) March 21, 2018


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167680
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Now Facebook is being pressured to ban "climate change deniers." Because why not?

Zuckerberg may have unwittingly opened up a great big can of worms.

Onward and upward,
airforce

Last edited by airforce; 08/06/2018 08:34 PM.
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167681
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This is nothing less than digital "book burning". It doesn't matter if we like Alex Jones or not. He like everyone else has the right to voice his opinion and speak his mind. This is the denial of free speech. If we do not stop this now, everyone's right is in danger of being irretrievably lost. Christians. conservatives, constitutionalists, libertarians and republicans will all be silenced. And, the only voice remaining will be the democratic socialist left.


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167682
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Alex Jones is warning the world about internet censorship. In all honesty, I think Alex Jones is going to come out of this just fine. Zuckerberg, maybe not.

Onward and upward,
airforce

Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167684
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It's not just zuckerberg...it's apple, google, youtube, twitter, itunes, sticher, spotify, instagram and others including cnn who are demanding that only one side of the narrative is ever seen by the public. This crap is straight out of 1984 and if we don't put a stop to it we are fools. As I type, the democraps are proposing legislation that will turn the internet into the Chinese model.

All amerikans better wake the fuck up. Censorship is here.




Brent Bozell: Censoring InfoWars ‘Not Just a Slippery Slope, It’s a Dangerous Cliff’


InfoWars host Alex Jones, with eyes and mouth covered by the logos of Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and Facebook.

6 Aug 2018

Media Research Center Founder and President Brent Bozell warned Monday that censorship of Infowars and Alex Jones signals Silicon Valley is headed off a “dangerous cliff,” not just a “slippery slope.”

Facebook announced Monday morning the technology behemoth unpublished four InfoWars pages from their platform: the Alex Jones Channel Page, the Alex Jones Page, the Infowars Page, and the Infowars Nightly News Page. In a blog post, the technology giant claimed the pages were removed because of content published to the platform by InfoWars violated its “hate speech and bullying policies.” Hours later, YouTube deleted Jones’ channel, as well.

In response to the purge, Brent Bozell issued the following statement:

I don’t support Alex Jones and what InfoWars produces. He’s not a conservative. However, banning him and his outlet is wrong. It’s not just a slippery slope, it’s a dangerous cliff that these social media companies are jumping off to satisfy CNN and other liberal outlets.

This is part of a distributing trend. In recent months top conservatives congressmen have been shadowbanned on Twitter. Pro-life and pro-gun posts have videos are often removed on several platforms. liberal journalists even objected to one conservative outlet attending a meeting with Facebook. Several conservative organizations like Liver Action and the NRA and even the Christian satire site Babylon Bee have complained they had posts removed or censored.

Social media sites are supposedly neutral platforms, but they are increasingly becoming opportunities for the left and major media to censor any content that they don’t like. The lack of transparency is also problematic and as of this release, Facebook, Apple and Spotify have provided no detailed explanation for the ban.

Conservatives are increasingly concerned that InfoWars is not the end point for those who want to ban speech. it’s just the beginning. We are rapidly approaching a point where censorship and opposing voices is the norm. That’s dangerous.

Below is my official statement on Facebook, Apple and Spotify removing "The Alex Jones Show" and other InfoWars content from their platforms. pic.twitter.com/LJznYL1598

— Brent Bozell (@BrentBozell) August 6, 2018

The embattled Silicon Valley company says the InfoWars’ pages were removed after users complained the news outlet published content that possessed “dehumanizing language,” to“describe people who are transgender, Muslims, and immigrants, which violates our hate speech policies.”

Following the ban, InfoWars Editor-at-Large Paul Joseph Watson took to Twitter to issue his own warning about censorship of conservatives. “Facebook has permanently BANNED Infowars. For unspecified “hate speech”. They didn’t even tell us what the offending posts were,” Watson wrote. This sets a chilling precedent for free speech. To all other conservative news outlets – you are next.”

“The great censorship purge has truly begun,” he added.

Facebook has permanently BANNED Infowars.

For unspecified "hate speech". They didn't even tell us what the offending posts were.

This sets a chilling precedent for free speech.

To all other conservative news outlets – you are next.

The great censorship purge has truly begun. pic.twitter.com/v7Yo9hI0q3

— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) August 6, 2018

Apple announced Sunday evening they planned to delete the Alex Jones Show along with five other podcasts from iTunes after a similar move by streaming giant Spotify. An Apple spokesperson issued the following statement to discussed BuzzFeed News about the decision: “Apple does not tolerate hate speech, and we have clear guidelines that creators and developers must follow to ensure we provide a safe environment for all of our users. Podcasts that violate these guidelines are removed from our directory making them no longer searchable or available for download or streaming. We believe in representing a wide range of views, so long as people are respectful to those with differing opinions.”



"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167685
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All amerikans better wake the fuck up. Censorship is here.


As is everything else that we keep saying is "Coming" or "On the way".

Digital Encrypted comms will soon be the norm, as well as our own HF/VHF numbers stations.


"To achieve One World Government it is necessary to remove from the minds of men their individualism, their loyalty to family traditions and national identification."
~ Brock Chisholm, when director of UN World Health Organization
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167686
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Now That Facebook, YouTube And Apple Have Come For Alex Jones, Now They Will Start Coming After The Rest Of Us


August 6th was one of darkest days in the history of the Internet

Michael Snyder | Economic Collapse - August 7, 2018

August 6th was one of darkest days in the history of the Internet.

When I learned that Facebook, YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Pinterest and others had colluded to take down content from Alex Jones all on the same day, I knew exactly what was happening. They timed their attack so that it would hit the press at the beginning of the weekly news cycle on Monday so that their purge would have maximum societal impact.

And the fact that there was such overt collusion was obviously meant to send a message. We were supposed to understand that if they can do this to Alex Jones, they can do it to any of us, and so we better shut up and fall in line. I can’t even begin to tell you how sick I feel right now. The big tech giants have made it abundantly clear how they feel about all of us, and there is no future for alternative points of view on any of their platforms.

The current purge of conservative voices has been going on for months, but this is the biggest bombshell by far. The following excerpt from a Los Angeles Times article is a typical example of how the mainstream media covered this story…

Major technology companies including Apple, Facebook and YouTube deleted years of content from conservative conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his Infowars platforms over allegations of hate speech, a sudden clampdown that is fueling the growing debate over how big technology companies choose to censor.

The move was unusual for its sweep and speed, suggesting a new assertiveness by technology companies that in the past have worked to avoid alienating conservatives, who often assert that left-leaning Silicon Valley is biased against them. The removals appeared to be prompted by more users flagging Infowars content for policy violations.

In addition to the “big three”, Spotify and Pinterest pulled down content from Infowars as well, and there is no way that this could have been done simultaneously unless it was planned well in advance. Lawyers have to be consulted, CEOs have to give their approval, etc. This was a cold-blooded move that was carefully calculated down to the finest details.

So is there anything that conservatives can do?

Well, Mike Adams has suggested that these tech companies could be prosecuted for conspiracy…

This coordinated, illegal censorship is clear proof of an organized criminal racket being conducted by the tech giants. The RICO Act allows for federal prosecution of such criminal conspiracy.

The internet Dark Ages has now descended upon us, where radical left-wing tech giants run by deranged, mentally ill communists will decide whether your content qualifies as “hate speech.” What is hate speech? It’s anything uttered by a conservative.

I think that he is theoretically correct, but I doubt that it will ever actually happen.

Right now, the global elite do not have control of the White House, but they have discovered a powerful new weapon in the tech companies. They are trying to use this new weapon to smash Alex Jones and other top conservative voices, and they are doing it with a tyrannical flair that is absolutely frightening. I think that it was quite appropriate that the official WikiLeaks Twitter account made a parallel between this purge and an old Star Wars movie…

The empire strikes back: Apple, Spotify, Facebook and Google/Youtube all purge Infowars/Alex Jones. Yes, Infowars has frequent nonsense, but also a state power critique. Which publisher in the world with millions of subscribers is next to be wiped out for cultural transgression?

And it is quite noteworthy that this comes almost exactly three months before the mid-term elections.

Do you think that is just a coincidence?

After all of the uproar about “election interference”, now the big tech companies are overtly doing it very publicly and in a way that nobody can misunderstand.

The biggest reason why they are lashing out at Alex Jones, Mike Adams and a whole host of other top conservative voices is because Donald Trump never would have gotten elected without them. I guess they figure that if they can start silencing some of those voices that they can turn future elections in their favor.

If it was just a few conservative voices that were being censored, that would be one thing. But the truth is that hundreds and hundreds of conservatives have had Facebook pages taken down, YouTube accounts terminated and Twitter accounts shadowbanned. I won’t repeat all of the information that I have previously published on this topic in this article. Instead, if you would like to learn more I would recommend checking out some of my previous articles…

-“This Is The Worst Purge Of Conservative Voices In The History Of The Internet”

-“Governments And Social Media Companies Are Collaborating To Censor Anyone That Would Dare To Question Mainstream Media Narratives”

-“The Big Social Media Companies Are Being Used As A Weapon To Advance The Agenda Of The New World Order”

-“The Censorship Is Real – EndOfTheAmericanDream.com Is Being Completely Blocked By Library Internet Filters”

In the end, this is not about Alex Jones.

This is about a once free society that is becoming more Orwellian with each passing day.

Now that they have come for Alex Jones, they aren’t going to stop.

It might not be tomorrow, but eventually they are going to come for you.

I would like to end this article with a few words from Dr. Michael Brown’s excellent article about all of this censorship…

Let me repeat what I said in my earlier article about Infowars: Whether you’re an Infowars fan or you find their work distasteful, their potential removal from YouTube should concern you.

Otherwise, soon enough, we’ll have our own version of Martin Niemöller’s famous poem, which will now sound something like this:

First they came for Infowars, and I did not speak out—because I found them offensive.

Then they came for Geller and Spencer, and I did not speak out­—because I found them obnoxious.

Then they came for Prager U, and I did not speak out—because I found them opinionated.

Then they came for a host of others, and I did not speak out—because I have my own life to live.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167687
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Dem Senator Demands More Censorship of Conservative Media

“These companies must do more than take down one website”

Paul Joseph Watson | Infowars.com - August 7, 2018

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy has called for social media websites to ban more conservative news outlets in the aftermath of Infowars being purged from the Internet.

Yesterday, Apple, Spotify, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube all deleted Infowars in a coordinated assault on free speech that sent shockwaves through the media.

Murphy responded by celebrating the bans and calling for more right-leaning sites to be targeted.


Infowars is the tip of a giant iceberg of hate and lies that uses sites like Facebook and YouTube to tear our nation apart. These companies must do more than take down one website. The survival of our democracy depends on it.

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) August 6, 2018

“Infowars is the tip of a giant iceberg of hate and lies that uses sites like Facebook and YouTube to tear our nation apart. These companies must do more than take down one website. The survival of our democracy depends on it,” tweeted Murphy.

Quite how silencing independent media platforms has anything to do with the survival of democracy was not explained by Murphy.

Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton went even further, accusing Alex Jones of inciting violence with no evidence whatsoever while asserting, “The internet will be a safer place with fewer of Alex Jones’ harmful conspiracies on it.”

Freedom of speech does not mean the freedom to incite violence with zero regard for the truth. The internet will be a safer place with fewer of Alex Jones' harmful conspiracies on it. Great to see this initiative by private companies. https://t.co/p1qcba6xhE pic.twitter.com/ZjAsP7rTsM

— Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) August 6, 2018

Meanwhile, Silicon Valley censorship of conservatives and libertarians continues to intensify as accounts linked to the Ron Paul Institute were suspended by Twitter in addition to Tommy Robinson being banned by Instagram.


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167688
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On the heels of the Infowars banning, Twitter bans three prominent Libertarian accounts


by NC Scout | Aug 7, 2018

If you had any wonder what the real goals of the leftist infestation of Big Tech really is, you shouldn’t any longer. After the removal of Alex Jones’ Infowars from the most popular means of delivery including YouTube, Facebook and the iTunes streaming service and the suspension of Candace Owen for highlighting the dubious nature of the ‘acceptable speech’ algorithm on Twitter, three other high profile Libertarian accounts on Twitter have been suspended for seemingly pedantic reasons.

Scott Horton, director of antiwar.com, Peter Van Buren and Dan McAdams, executive director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity have all been suspended from Twitter following an exchange with journalist Jonathan Katz. While the details of the exchange are vague, it can be assured that the comments were tame in comparison to the vitriol and outright threats espoused against conservatives, libertarians and anyone who doesn’t go along with the flow on a no-stop basis. And that is for those who haven’t been shadow banned.

The prelude to war always begins with shutting down your opponent’s ability to communicate. As we’ve found in recent years with the emergence of the so-called ‘Arab Spring’, the rise of ISIS, uprisings in Ukraine, and the flashmob phenomena, social media has emerged as one of the most potent weapons in the fourth generation warfare battlefield. That said it makes sense Big Tech, which grew and consolidated while being subsidized by government funds, would move to silence the voice of dissent. Such platforms are then utilities and not private companies and should be subject to First Amendment protections. This does not change the reality of the situation; the veil is gone and the knives are out.

There must be a logical end to all of this. It will not stop with an election. If you’re thinking that all of these actions do not have an explicit end state, quit reading this and take up a new hobby. But if you recognize where this is headed and know your freedom doesn’t hinge on the results of this November, take action for your future. Seek training, because there should be zero doubt the Left has plans on escalating this for a larger revolution.

Last edited by ConSigCor; 08/07/2018 12:21 PM.

"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167689
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You know Alex Jones is having a bad day when YouPorn bans him.

These are private companies, they have every right to ban him under the First Amendment. I sure wouldn't want AWRM to be forced to give a platform to Hillary Clinton, and YouTube shouldn't be forced to do so for Alex Jones. But it's a little troubling when all these websaites act at the same time. If you want to find some collusion, I think we just did.

Reason has more on this here.

Onward and upward,
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Last edited by airforce; 08/07/2018 01:24 PM.
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167691
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I should note that you can subscribe to Infowars here and receive their newsletter by email. I still think Alex Jones is going to come out of this just fine.

Onward and upward,
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Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167692
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MSM Fueling Nazi-Style Censorship to Trigger Violence. Don’t Take The Bait.

Just say NO to violence: Censorship is an act of desperation by those who are already losing

Infowars.com - August 7, 2018

Do NOT publicly harass Big Tech giants, the mainstream media or anyone else pushing mass censorship. Don’t do it. Just say no to violence.

The mainstream media is chomping at the bit to escalate this censorship purge of conservatives into a full-blown civil war. Don’t fall for the trap.

We’re already winning by standing back and allowing the world to see Big Tech giants for what they are: Unaccountable, multi-national corporations which do NOT value free speech – or any of the freedoms our nation was founded upon for that matter.

This is corporatism, not capitalism. This is collusion against the Bill of Rights. This is a full-blown shift toward the communist Chinese model of social engineering and censorship.

The globalists are intolerant to opposing viewpoints because their worldview is built on a shaky ideology of subservience and control at the expense of truth. That’s why they’re too reliant of corporate censorship – and that’s why they’ll ultimately fail.

They’re desperate. They’re scrambling. They’ve been pushed into a corner in which now they’re censoring anyone right of center because they’ve run out of options in their fight against the free marketplace of ideas.

In short, we’re already winning by allowing Big Tech to uncloak themselves. We’ve warned you for years the censorship was coming – and now we’ve been proven right.

Is it really surprising that this mass censorship comes right before the upcoming mid-term elections?

But don’t join into censorship yourselves. According to a new poll, 43% of Republicans want to give Trump the power to shut down the media, but don’t join that 43%. Censorship is not the way.

If you’re right, you’ll win in the marketplace of ideas without needing to rely on censorship to crush your competition.

By embracing censorship, these autocrats are drowning themselves. Don’t do anything that’ll constitute throwing them a lifeline.

American people are now able to truly see what’s at stake – and the autocrats will lose in the long run though their own actions.

Already Twitter and Facebook are hemorrhaging users. They’re losing the hearts and minds of Internet users accustomed to the free marketplace of ideas.

The American public is roundly rejecting these “virtue signaling” bubbles en masse because, on establishment social media, their speech and thoughts are tightly controlled from the top-down. It’s not just the privacy concerns fueling the mass exodus from Facebook, but also the creepy 1984esque feeling that Facebook is controlling their lives.

YouTube is likewise beginning to lose influence as it transforms into a cable TV clone in which content is tightly controlled. Yet that’s exactly why Americans have spent the past decade “cord cutting” their TVs; they want the freedom of choice over programming. They’re tired of having their thoughts and opinions dictated for them by multi-national corporations.

And that’s also why mainstream media is declining in viewership and influence.

Now, right after the ban, it’s been confirmed that communist China has Apple – which has been quarterbacking the purge – in a vise grip.

“Apple has benefited from cheap labor and a strong supply chain in China and needs to share more of its profit with the Chinese people or face ‘anger and nationalist sentiment’ amid the ongoing trade war, an article in the state-backed People’s Daily warned Tuesday,” reports CNBC. “The article originally appeared in another state-backed publication, Global Times, last week.”

Apple had already moved many of its operations to China, which allows the communist country to use it as leverage against the US.

Is it really any surprise then that Chinese-style censorship is creeping into America?


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
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Quote
Do NOT publicly harass Big Tech giants, the mainstream media or anyone else pushing mass censorship. Don’t do it. Just say no to violence.


Oh for fucks sake - really? Sit back and take it until is becomes the norm. Sounds like the last 80+ years of AmeriKa. Hows that been working out for ya?


"To achieve One World Government it is necessary to remove from the minds of men their individualism, their loyalty to family traditions and national identification."
~ Brock Chisholm, when director of UN World Health Organization
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167695
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Is the Mises Institute next?

Quote
We are accustomed to predatory language from politicians, but this issuance from Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy's twitter account yesterday is particularly telling:

[Linked Image]

When a politician, particularly a US senator, tells companies what they "must" do, there is a clear threat of government action if they don't. What exactly does Mr. Murphy imply for noncompliance? Harsh new regulations? Antitrust inquiries? Tax audits?

The word for this, as Justin Raimondo points out, is extortion.


Big Tech, however, is fully complicit in this era of growing "soft censorship" by ostensibly private companies. In the past 48 hours, several social media platforms — including Facebook, twitter, YouTube (Google) and iTunes (Apple) — banned provocateur Alex Jones from their platforms. Jones often promoted guests like Dr. Ron Paul, Lew Rockwell, and Peter Schiff in the 1990s, when alternative voices were few and far between.

Twitter also suspended the accounts of Ron Paul Institute director Daniel McAdams, Antiwar.com editor Scott Horton, and retired US Foreign Service officer Peter Van Buren, three prominent libertarian and non-interventionist voices.

Senator Murphy did not have to lift a finger.


Yes, tech companies are private organizations with shareholders. Yes, nobody has a right to a platform, or a microphone, or an audience. Yes, nobody in America is being put in jail or fined by government for speech — yet (so-called hate speech laws already are in place across the West, and supported by many voters in the US). We do not advocate regulation of social media or technology companies under common carrier/utility theories or some tenuous expansion of public accommodations laws.

But the unholy nexus of state and corporate power is at the core of the libertarian critique. Big Tech is deeply involved with government at many levels, from data collection to spying to developing weapons and AI to providing cloud space to noxious federal agencies. Tech companies derive their economic, social, and cultural power not only from their competence in the marketplace, but increasingly from their connection to the state as well.

It is precisely this alliance that gives rise to justified criticisms of a power elite.
Taken to its ultimate conclusion, the alliance becomes openly fascist. In this sense libertarians have every justification to oppose consolidations of economic power — and to recognize the blurring between First Amendment violations by express state actors and de-platforming of alternative voices by state-connected actors.

Is the Mises Institute next? Will we be de-platformed, shadow banned, or otherwise erased for promoting views — proudly radical, anti-state, and anti-war views — that the power elite cannot abide?

The answer lies in building independent platforms. Mises.org was a very early pioneer online, providing a critical forum for libertarian and Austrian writers beginning way back in October 1996. As a result, the site had a head start in becoming among the most-visited economics hubs in the world. Much of our site traffic is organic: visitors either direct their browser to the home page, or arrive at a particular page through search engines like Google.

Unlike newer sites, mises.org is less dependent on social media feeds to drive traffic to it — less than 20%. And while our traffic is robust, that 20% sourced from social media clicks will drop as platforms adjust their algorithms to punish content sites. They don't want you clicking through to mises.org.

So while the site could and would survive being de-platformed by social media companies, it would not take much for search engines to "disappear" our content. Imagine typing "Austrian economics" or "Mises" into Google and finding no mises.org results — or having those results shunned to the twentieth page of results.

You can help fight back by taking small steps today: set mises.org as your homepage, and visit frequently to make sure you're seeing articles and content that social media outlets hide from your feeds. When you do see our articles pop up, help us by clicking through. And circulate them via email to acquaintances using direct links, rather than simply sharing social media posts that in many cases disappear down a rabbit hole.

The state and its cronyist friends have built a world that seeks to silence our perspectives. We must recognize that arguments and content mean nothing if conduits for disseminating them are shut down.


Onward and upward,
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Facebook deactivates the Free Brazil Movement, a libertarian political movement in Brazil.

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Even as it tightens its controls on the things people in the U.S. can say on its platform, Facebook has dealt Movimiento Brasil Libre—the Free Brazil Movement—a serious blow shortly before the country's October elections. The social media giant deactivated 196 pages and 87 accounts belonging to the classical liberal organization, calling the pages "a coordinated network that hid behind fake Facebook accounts and misled people about the nature and origin of its content, all for the purpose of sowing division and spreading misinformation."

Free Brazil Movement spokesperson Kim Kataguiri tells Reason that the group was unaware of the scope of Facebook's actions until its members read a Reuters article about it. (Facebook has not deactivated the group's main page.)

This is the first time the group has ever faced a crackdown of this sort. Previously, Kataguiri says, Facebook chose instead to diminish the reach of the group's posts. He compares that to "a disease that doesn't kill you in the first moment but makes you suffer over time.

"Our Facebook pages were crucial during the past 3 years," he adds. "When our movement, the Free Brazil Movement, had its greatest moment of growth, we reached a range of 40 million people weekly. The social media today has a brutal role in the political game, is how most people get informed and follow politics. That's why we're so concerned about it, because there's a huge part of the public debate happening there."

The movement now plans to spread its message using "Minds, Telegram, Youtube, [LinkedIn], and even sending a newsletter through e-mail," Kataguiri says.

In 2015, the Free Brazil Movement organized a protest of more than a million people to call for the impeachment of then-President Dilma Rousseff. Rousseff was forced to step down in May 2016 after she was charged with trying to manipulate the federal budget and mask economic problems by secretly borrowing money from state-owned banks. The young activists were widely credited with Rousseff's removal.

The group was the subject of a Reason profile in November 2016. There, Free Brazil Movement activist Renan Santos called Facebook an important tool: "Without Facebook, we would still have Dilma." In an accompanying video, Santos told Reason that the group used the site to create "a sort of parallel media." The open nature of Facebook allowed the group to gain exposure often denied them by the traditional media outlets that received money from the Brazilian government.

One Free Brazil Movement activist, Thomaz Barbosa, says that Facebook took a payment from him just before removing his account. According to Barbosa, he paid 400,000 Real—equivalent to about $100—to use a Facebook feature that would expand a post's reach. Despite Facebook's decision to deactivate Barbosa's account, Barbosa says the money was not returned. Reason reached out ot Facebook for comment on this, but did not receive an immediate response.


Our worst fears may be coming true.

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Twitter Plans ‘Hate Speech’ Crackdown After Backlash From Upset Employees

08/09/2018
Peter Hasson | Reporter

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on Wednesday signaled a coming change to his company’s speech policies, following pressure from his own employees
Some Twitter employees are unhappy that Twitter has yet to join Facebook, Spotify, Apple and YouTube in banning right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones
Twitter is planning to accelerate a crackdown on “hate speech” and is looking to evaluate whether to punish users for “off-platform behavior,” according to a company-wide email sent on Wednesday

Twitter is planning to accelerate changes to the company’s speech policies after a backlash from its own employees who want the company to ban right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, responding to a critical tweet from a Twitter engineer, said Wednesday he is “not happy” with Twitter’s current policies, which he said need to “evolve.”

Twitter vice president Del Harvey also sent a company-wide email Wednesday pledging to accelerate Twitter’s efforts to crack down on “dehumanizing hate speech,” in the wake of internal “conversations” about Jones.

Harvey noted that Twitter also plans to evaluate whether the company needs to better police “off-platform behavior.”

Dorsey explained Tuesday why Twitter has yet to follow Facebook, Google and Apple’s lead by banning Jones: “he hasn’t violated our rules.”

“If we succumb and simply react to outside pressure, rather than straightforward principles we enforce (and evolve) impartially regardless of political viewpoints, we become a service that’s constructed by our personal views that can swing in any direction,” Dorsey tweeted. “That’s not us.”

Dorsey’s explanation angered some of his employees, who demanded the CEO do more to regulate speech on the platform.

“There is no honor in resisting ‘outside pressure’, just to pat ourselves on the back for being ‘impartial,'” Twitter engineer Marina Zhao replied, adding: “Twitter does not exist in a vacuum, and it is wrong to ignore the serious real-world harm, and to equate that with political viewpoints.”

Engineer Kenneth Kufluk also stated his disagreement with his boss that Jones hadn’t violated any rules.
Screenshot/Twitter

Screenshot/Twitter

“I don’t agree with everything Twitter does or doesn’t do. If we can consistently enforce the policies and terms of service for the platform, that’s a good thing. But it doesn’t mean we should be satisfied with the policies we have,” another Twitter engineer, Mike Cvet, wrote in response to his boss.

“It is impossible to promote healthy dialog with bad-faith actors, who regularly produce toxic, dangerous and demonstrably false conspiracy theories; the objective of which is to mislead, radicalize, divide,” Cvet said.

“Our policies need to change, so that constructive discourse is not only possible, but commonplace. And so that our rules and the behavior they condone are something to be proud of,” he added.

Definitely not happy with where our policies are. They need to constantly evolve. Doing that work. Thanks for the thoughtful tweets and push, Mike https://t.co/UyY1wlvv4D

— jack (@jack) August 8, 2018

“Definitely not happy with where our policies are. They need to constantly evolve,” Dorsey replied. “Doing that work. Thanks for the thoughtful tweets and push, Mike.”

A Twitter spokeswoman told the The Daily Caller News Foundation that Twitter’s policies are constantly evolving and pointed to Dorsey’s tweets and a Tuesday blog post for further information.

Jones has a long track record of spreading conspiracy theories, including falsely claiming that the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in Connecticut was a hoax. But Jones’ sudden banning across social media platforms has led to concerns that mainstream conservatives will soon follow.

Washington Free Beacon editor Sonny Bunch wrote Wednesday that “those who refuse to see this as the first step toward a more aggressive campaign of de-platforming conservatives are being obtuse.”

“The math here is simple: There is a growing belief that speech can be considered violence, that racist speech is by definition violence and that conservative thought is inherently racist. I don’t need a whiteboard or lizard people to connect the dots,” Bunch wrote in an op-ed.

Twitter is already under scrutiny for censoring and suppressing conservatives on its platform. (RELATED: Twitter Suspends Pro-Life Group From Running Ads — Then Reverses After DCNF Inquiry)

The social media company suspended conservative activist Candace Owens Sunday, after she quoted a New York Times writer’s anti-white tweets but replaced the word “white” with “black” and “Jewish.” Following a backlash, Twitter reversed Owens’ suspension, which it claimed was done in error.

Twitter in July suppressed four Republican congressmen on the site due to an algorithm change meant to punish “bad-faith actors.” All four are members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. Twitter later said the suppression wasn’t intentional and that the congressmen’s accounts were penalized for having the wrong followers.

That same month, Twitter suspended conservative commentator Kathleen McKinley for two tweets: one that opposed clearing self-identified transgender persons for military duty and one that tied “extreme Muslim beliefs” — rather than mainstream Muslim beliefs — to the practice of honor killings.

Twitter did not apologize to McKinley or say her suspension was in error.


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
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Apple Says It Is ‘Monitoring’ The Infowars App; Threatens To Censor If It Becomes ‘Harmful’

App has shot to number one on the charts after big tech censorship

Steve Watson | Infowars.com - August 9, 2018

Apple, which removed all Alex Jones material from it’s iTunes and Podcasts platforms earlier this week as part of a coordinated big tech purge, has addressed the fact that the Infowars app is still available in the App store.

The company has been under intense lobbying, spearheaded by CNN, to remove the Infowars app in addition to the banning of all other content.

Apple and Google are still selling the InfoWars app, which contains some of the same type of content that both tech giants have pulled from elsewhere on their platforms https://t.co/zvtAEXEub6 pic.twitter.com/ObHWDzok8l

— CNN International (@cnni) August 7, 2018

The app has shot to number one in the news charts, above the likes of CNN and BBC, in the wake of the digital shutdown of free speech by Apple, as well as Facebook, YouTube, Spotify and a host of other companies.

Apple admitted that it has not killed the Infowars app, despite intense pressure to do so, because it has not violated any terms of agreement.

“We strongly support all points of view being represented on the App Store, as long as the apps are respectful to users with differing opinions, and follow our clear guidelines, ensuring the App Store is a safe marketplace for all,” the company said in a statement.

However, Apple did note that it is monitoring the Infowars app, and issued a subtle threat that it could kill it any time it please.

“We continue to monitor apps for violations of our guidelines and if we find content that violates our guidelines and is harmful to users we will remove those apps from the store as we have done previously.” the statement reads.

It is not difficult to imagine Apple removing the app, given that it claimed the Infowars podcast material violated the company’s ‘hate speech guidelines,’ although it was never made clear exactly what part of the content did so.

Apple’s App Store review guidelines for developers notes that prohibited material includes “content that is offensive, insensitive, upsetting, intended to disgust, or in exceptionally poor taste.”

The censorship of Alex Jones’ network resulted in an immediate swell in visitors to Infowars.com, and with the Infowars Official app shooting from 47th to top of the News category of the App Store in just two days.

Even non-official Infowars apps climbed into the top rankings of the App store as a result.

Reports suggested that the decision by Apple to censor Infowars was taken by the company’s CEO Tim Cook and senior vice president of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue. In other words, it came from the very top.


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167712
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This is getting scary. Really, really scary. 43% of Republicans say Trump should have the power to shut down news media outlets.

What the hell is happening to our country?

Onward and upward,
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Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167714
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I understand how they feel. Everyone is fed up with the Constant Bull Shit and Nothing But Crap being spewed by the lying fake media.

And the democratic socialist crowd is screaming for the outright ban of all conservative / alternative speech.

This will not be resolved until MUCH blood has been shed.

Last edited by ConSigCor; 08/09/2018 07:49 PM.

"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167719
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Is The Censorship Of Conservatives Part Of The Reason Why Facebook Is Losing Massive Amounts Of Traffic?

We must never let up in the fight for Internet freedom, because ultimately it is the freedom of all of humanity that is at stake

Michael Snyder | End Of The American Dream - August 10, 2018

The amount of website traffic that Facebook receives in the United States has “fallen by about half” since 2016, and it is anticipated that this decline in traffic will not end any time soon.

Coincidentally (or perhaps not), 2016 also happened to be the year when the censorship of conservatives on Facebook really became noticeable. The events of this week made headlines all over the globe, but the truth is that Facebook has been an egregious censor of conservative viewpoints for a very long time, and it appears that it is really taking a toll on the company. In business, one of the golden rules is to never make your customers angry, but Facebook has chosen to make conservatives very angry over and over again. It was inevitable that many of them would begin to leave, and that is perhaps part of the reason why monthly page visits are down by about four billion over the past two years…

Four billion. That, according to a new study shared with CNBC by market research firm SimilarWeb, is how many monthly page visits Facebook has shed in a slow-drip but nevertheless huge decline over the last two years.

Facebook’s traffic hasn’t just fallen by about half since 2016, according to the study. Among the consequences of such a precipitous drop is the opening it’s given to YouTube, which the study’s data shows is about to overtake Facebook to become the second biggest site, traffic-wise, in the U.S. Which would give Google ownership of the top two spots, pushing Facebook down to number three.

I knew that Facebook had been losing traffic, but I didn’t know that it had been that dramatic.

According to CNBC, the number of monthly page visits that Facebook has been receiving in the United States has plummeted from 8.5 billion two years ago to 4.7 billion today…

The five websites receiving the most traffic in the U.S. in the last several years have been Google, Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo and Amazon, in that order. However, Facebook has seen a severe decline in monthly page visits, from 8.5 billion to 4.7 billion in the last two years, according to the study. Although Facebook’s app traffic has grown, it is not enough to make up for that loss, the study said.

Growth in other regions of the world has also helped cushion the blow for Facebook, but needless to say they are in for a very troubled future if this trend continues.

Thanks to Facebook’s woes, YouTube could soon become the number two website in the U.S. after Google, and that would give Google even more power over the online world.

At this point, Google already accounts for more than a third of all time spent online…

Between the ubiquitous search engine and offshoots such as YouTube and Waze, a new report says Google accounted for over 34% of time spent online in June, according to Axios.

So why has Facebook traffic cratered so dramatically?

Well, it is quite true that Facebook has been hit with a lot of scandals lately…

Facebook has faced a number of issues in the past few months, including one of the biggest share price drops in Wall Street History, shareholders attempting to oust CEO Mark Zuckerberg as chairman of the board, more questions surrounding election interference, and finally the banning of Infowars and Alex Jones from its platform has led to the social media Masters of the Universe facing criticism from multiple groups.

But scandals are just temporary. In a previous article, I pointed out that a much bigger problem for Facebook is the fact that young people are abandoning the platform in enormous numbers…

Teenagers have abandoned Facebook in favour of other social media platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram, according to a study from the Pew Research Center.

Just 51% of US individuals aged 13 to 17 say they use Facebook – a dramatic plunge from the 71% who said they used the social network in Pew’s previous study in 2015, when it was the dominant online platform.

If I was working at Facebook, I would definitely be extremely alarmed by those numbers.

But many believe that the biggest problem of all for Facebook is the fact that they have alienated a substantial portion of the population.

Sure, conservatives are not a majority in America today. But even if you deeply anger only 20 or 30 percent of your customers, that can still be absolutely disastrous for your business.

Now that Facebook has made it abundantly clear that they are going to be hostile to conservatives, millions of them are going to leave, and they are never going to come back.

Personally, I barely spend any time on Facebook at this point. I post my articles and try to respond to messages when I have time, but other than that I don’t hang out on the site. It has been a good way to reach people with my articles, but with Facebook traffic declining so substantially, the truth is that the site just doesn’t have the reach that it once did.

Over time, Facebook is destined for the same fate as MySpace. Bigger and better competitors will come along, and a steady stream of people will continue to leave as Facebook continues to alienate those that were once so loyal to them.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that the trend toward more censorship of the Internet will end any time soon. It has been reported that Democrats are floating a bill that would essentially be a government takeover of the Internet, and the events of this past week have encouraged the left to call for even more censorship of conservatives.

We always knew that the golden era of the Internet wouldn’t last forever. It has empowered us to communicate with one another on a scale never seen before in human history, but now the elite are determined to get control of it.

We must never let up in the fight for Internet freedom, because ultimately it is the freedom of all of humanity that is at stake.


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167720
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Originally Posted by ConSigCor

Is The Censorship Of Conservatives Part Of The Reason Why Facebook Is Losing Massive Amounts Of Traffic?


Yes. Libertarians aren't conservative, but most libertarian groups I belong to are discussing this, and making plans to move elsewhere. Steam, reddit, MeWe, even MySpace (and AWRM) are being discussed as alternatives.

Onward and upward,
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Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167725
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Confirmed: Mark Zuckerberg Personally Made Decision to Ban Infowars

Billionaires now deciding what you can see and read

Paul Joseph Watson | Infowars.com - August 10, 2018

A New York Times report confirms that Mark Zuckerberg personally made the final decision to ban Infowars.

In an article entitled Facebook Banned Infowars. Now What?, Kevin Roose reveals how, “Late on Sunday, after returning to his hotel room on a trip away from home, Mark Zuckerberg made a decision he had hoped to avoid.”

The report adds that the Facebook CEO “got personally engaged” and “discussed Infowars at length with other executives,” while speculating that Jones may have wanted to get banned to get media attention.

Zuckerberg initially considered whether Infowars was being brigaded by partisan mobs mass reporting of posts (this undoubtedly happened, but only after CNN had engaged in an intense lobbying campaign to have Jones banned).

Zuckerberg decided to remove the Infowars page entirely, rather than just giving the page a strike, when he saw on the news that Apple had removed the Infowars podcast.

“After seeing the news, Mr. Zuckerberg sent a note to his team confirming his own decision: the strikes against Infowars and Mr. Jones would count individually, and the pages would come down. The announcement arrived at 3 a.m. Pacific time,” writes Roose.

This follows the revelation that Apple CEO Tim Cook also personally took the decision to ban the Infowars podcast.

Confirmation that both Cook and Zuckerberg was involved underscores the stark reality that billionaires and giant corporations that control the public discourse are now wielding more power over free speech than governments.

As Jones himself tweeted today, “Should billionaires & huge corporations get to decide what we can say and read?”

You may not like me, you may despise my politics, but I am the canary in the coal mine.

They want to set a horrendous precedent which will strangle free speech online, FOREVER.

Should billionaires & huge corporations get to decide what we can say and read?

Don't let them win!

— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) August 10, 2018


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167727
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72% of Americans think "it should be easier to sue" news media who publish fake news. Who gets to decide if a news story is fake? And what are you going to sue them for? You can already sue people for libel and slander.

Onward and upward,
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Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167728
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I'm watching NPR. They are discussing last years Charlotesville protests.

In a nutshell...

Polls show that 60 % of white Americans "identify with their white race" and "falsely believe there is reverse racism against white people". Therefore they are racist.

And, this large group of white racists are predominately Republican, conservative AND gun owners...again making them racist.

During their discussion they constantly showed photos and video of a "armed 3% militia hate group" who were open carrying at the protest. The talking heads at NPR are demanding that something be done to stop these "dangerous racist milita's".


They offered several solutions.

Paypal must Ban militia groups from using their service to raise and transfer any funds.

Internet service providers must deny these groups access to all forms of internet communications to prevent them from spreading their "message of hate".


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167729
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For those interested, The Alex Jones Fan Club is still on Facebook. How long it will last in anyone's guess.

Onward and upward,
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Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167731
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Bans don't seem to be bothering Alex Jones. I still say he's going to come out of this better than Zuckerberg.

Quote
Some of the nation’s largest technology and social media companies have tried to stop Alex Jones and his conspiracy theories. But in a digital world, their attempts seem to have barely slowed him down.

After YouTube, Facebook and others this week removed content by Jones and his website, the InfoWars leader, talk show host and Austin resident fired back, accusing the companies of censorship and urging his audience to fight back against what he called an “unprecedented attack.”

Meanwhile, Jones’ website and other online platforms have remained popular destinations.

InfoWars continues to see more than 1 million page visits per day and has trended upward this month, according to Amazon’s Alexa website traffic report, which also said InfoWars averages more than 25 million page views per month.

Consumers still can access InfoWars through the same tech companies that just banned it. Google still offers the Infowars app for Android users, and Apple customers can download it through the App Store.


As of Friday, the show’s phone app remained near the top of the charts in both the Apple App and Google Play stores. Infowars Official, an app that lets viewers stream Jones’ shows and read news of the day, was ranked fourth among trending apps in the Google Play store Friday. In the news category on Apple’s App Store, Infowars earned the fourth slot under the top free apps, behind Twitter and News Break, a local and breaking news service, revealing a sudden boost of user downloads.

Apple told The Washington Post in a written statement: “We put great effort into curating the App Store to provide the very best experience for everyone. We strongly support all points of view being represented on the App Store, as long as the apps are respectful to users with differing opinions, and follow our clear guidelines, ensuring the App Store is a safe marketplace for all.”

On Twitter, where Jones hasn’t been banned, his follower count has reached almost 900,000.

“Alex Jones has been doing this for a long time,” said Adam Curry, a former host on MTV and longtime podcast personality in Austin. “When he started off, there was no YouTube, etc. We have the belief that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram are the internet, but it’s not. You can’t stop people from posting, and he has a very loyal following.”

Jones has previously said his platforms reach 70 million people per week.

In a way, Curry said, Jones’ banishment from major websites has helped the host, giving him ammunition to rile up his followers and further promote his initiatives.

For years, Jones has peddled conspiracy theories through his platforms. He has claimed, for example, that the 2012 school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., was a hoax. Some of the parents whose children were killed at Sandy Hook have filed a defamation lawsuit against the host. Jones’ attorney was in court in Austin this month seeking to have that and another, separate defamation suit dismissed. A ruling has yet to be made.

After multiple complaints against Jones, some major tech and social media companies decided to take action.

On Monday, Facebook unpublished four pages — the Alex Jones Channel page, the Alex Jones page, the InfoWars Page and the InfoWars Nightly News Page.

YouTube, Apple and Spotify also have removed multiple InfoWars videos and podcasts.

The companies cited hate speech as the cause, including pages with content that glorified violence and used dehumanizing language toward Muslims.

True to character, however, Jones has fought back.

His website has been promoting an “unprecedented attack” on Jones and displayed photos of the host with tape around his mouth. On Twitter, he has accused YouTube, Apple and others of censorship, and those posts have amassed hundreds of retweets from his followers.

Jones did not return a call from the American-Statesman seeking comment.

Ben Bentzin, a marketing lecturer at the University of Texas, said the removal of Jones’ content highlights the problem social media sites have created for themselves by monitoring certain speech and not others.

“There’s not a firm, bright line between categories of speech which some people will find offensive and others will find acceptable,” Bentzin said. “The antidote to bad speech should start with speech to point out how awful it is.”

Curry, the podcast host, said the best move might have been to do nothing, as Twitter has done.

“It’s a desperate move to not have political talk on these platforms,” Curry said. “And in a way, it’s already backfiring. It’s already hurting them.”


Onward and upward,
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Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167733
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I'm not a big Alex Jones fan but silencing him makes people wonder WHY the keepers of knowledge don't want him heard in the first place. These companies embrace being the Firemen of Fahrenheit 451. Digital print and video have surpassed books as the medium of information and knowledge in the 21st Century. These companies know that but still send their agents of new speak and censorship after any people that do not comply with their version of the Truth. Hypocrite Firemen one and all. If you read this and work for one of these companies know that you are on the wrong side of America.


Well, this is it.
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167737
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Originally Posted by ConSigCor


During their discussion they constantly showed photos and video of a "armed 3% militia hate group" who were open carrying at the protest. The talking heads at NPR are demanding that something be done to stop these "dangerous racist milita's".


They offered several solutions.

Paypal must Ban militia groups from using their service to raise and transfer any funds.

Internet service providers must deny these groups access to all forms of internet communications to prevent them from spreading their "message of hate".




The insane are running the asylum. What group is covering their faces, carrying shields and clubs, breaking windows and burning flags, cars and buildings? It's not conservatives that I can see. Even Charlottesville was civil until the Antifa showed up and the police incited the violence by forcing them together. While the visual of the burning torches might have one think of the KKK, it's rather interesting that everyone's face was exposed and most were smartly dressed as they walked to the monument. Methinks that "anti hate speech" is projection by the left and the useful idiots aren't smart enough to understand that they are being used.

Let's ask another question. Is Antifa a militia or mob? It seems to me that it is NPR that should lose their license and funding because they espouse "dangerous racist" commentary and seem to support the mob mentality and violence.

Lastly, to answer a question in an earlier post about why Facebook is bleeding revenue, it may be loss of Facebook activity as people walk away; however, I suspect that the US government cut off the $$ spigot.


"Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always Bad Men." Lord Actin 1887

I fear we live in evil times...
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167740
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Anyone else remember who spoke right before Martin Luther King gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech?

George Lincoln Rockwell, who was there with about 90 of his Nazi followers. No one tried to censor him, or to shut him down. (Although they were surrounded by about a hundred cops, and more than a few of his 90 followers were most likely FBI.) The best way to combat "hate speech " (whatever that is), is more speech.

Onward and upward,
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Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167745
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Free-Speech Monopoly – The Game Is Rigged

The Internet is today’s town square. The soapboxes are social media.

Ben Garrison GrrrGraphics.com - August 12, 2018

In early America many cities had ‘town squares’ in which citizens could stand on soapboxes and shout out various messages. Our First Amendment protects such speech.

The Internet is today’s town square. The soapboxes are social media.

The Deep State and the left are intertwined with Silicon Valley. The CIA helped Google and Facebook get started. Why? To make it easier to spy on people. Over time, millions gravitated toward Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Conservative and Libertarian voices became very strong and that alarmed the Deep State. So they began demonetizing conservatives. Then they shadow-banned them. Now they are deleting them outright.

For many years, Alex Jones reached millions with his journalism and rants. His tirades helped wake people up. He yelled at us about the Deep State, including the corrupt security agencies, the Bohemian Grove, the CFR, the Bilderbergs, fluoride in our water, the lies about 9-11, and yes, even Sandy Hook. The latter had many anomalies that should be questioned. Alex brought all of this up and more before anyone else had a inkling about what was really going on with such matters. He was routinely dismissed as a ‘conspiracy theorist’ by the establishment. However, much of what he has been saying over the years is now acknowledged as self-evident. The legacy media, the Deep State, and Silicon Valley could not stomach the fact that he was informing and influencing minds and elections. They all got together and confiscated his soapbox. Their lame excuse? They claimed he was a purveyor of ‘hate speech.’

Having previously endured years of hate speech aimed toward me, I know what it is and what it isn’t. To me, it’s libel, defamation and death threats. Alex Jones has never engaged in hate speech. Questioning climate change is not hate speech. Jones is not a racist, a bigot or any of the other ‘phobic’ names the left enjoy pinning on ideological opponents. ‘Hate speech’ sounds alarming and terrible, but it’s also vague. Who gets to decide what it is?

The Supreme Court ruled it was legal speech, but apparently the Silicon Valley and Deep State commissars want to overrule that decision. They own their social media game and they’ve rigged it in their favor. They have all the money in the world, so they can afford to lose revenue from the millions of conservatives and libertarians they’re forcing out of the game. They can’t win the argument, so they’re resorting to censorship.

Censorship is what China does, and companies like Facebook and Apple are eager to please the communist oligarchs. The Deep State wants what President Xi enjoys – a rigged Internet that does not allow dissent or criticism of the political elite. Right now, even Winnie the Pooh is being banned in China. Why? Because Xi opponents in China were using the cartoon bear as a ‘meme’ to criticize their leader. Remember, conservatives greatly out-memed the left during the last presidential election. Hillary is no doubt very angry that we have the ability to meme and ridicule her pomposity. She once said herself that the Internet needs an ‘editor.’ She would welcome a Chinese-style, well-censored Internet that she and her ilk would control.

The leftist media have dominated American minds for decades. The lies they told were readily accepted as facts. That kind of mind control is no longer working for them, thanks to the Internet. We know their ‘Russia collusion’ narrative is bunk. We’re not going along, so now they want to force us to go along and if we don’t, we get banned as ‘haters.’

It will get worse. PayPal is already banning users who are being smeared as ‘haters.’ The left will make that tactic seem fashionable, so it’s a matter of time before banks get in on the act. Maybe even the Bezos-owned Amazon?

What can we do? Many think conservatives should develop their own social media. That is no easy task and we will receive no generous funding from the Deep State to do it. What we should NOT do is ask government to ‘regulate’ social media. That would only add bureaucracy and regulations on free speech and if the left regains political control, they will use it to their advantage. Just like they used the IRS to harass conservatives.


The only thing we can do now is keep our cool and let the leftist oligarchs play their game and reveal themselves for who they are – tyrants who want control over our minds via their game of monopoly.


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
Re: Dems Pressure Facebook to Ban Infowars [Re: ConSigCor] #167746
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Ron Paul also says we need alternatives to social media companies that are silencing dissent.

Quote
Interviewed Tuesday at RT, libertarian communicator Ron Paul weighed in on social media companies’ purges this week that have affected individuals including popular talk show host Alex Jones and Ron Paul Institute Executive Director Daniel McAdams. Paul argues that purges undertaken by social media companies often are motivated by a desire to silence people “challenging the status quo,” instead of the purported reasons social media companies offer related to “terms of service.” He also chides the companies for doing “the work for the NSA,” or the National Security Agency, in conducting mass surveillance.

Paul goes on in the interview to express hope “that technology can stay ahead of it all and that we can have alternatives to the dependency on Twitter and these other companies that have been working hand in glove with the government.”

Watch here the complete interview, in which Paul also extensively discusses United States relations with and sanctions against Iran:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aal1y17G9E4


Onward and upward,
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CNN Article Accuses Infowars of Being “Complicit in Domestic Terror”

They've truly jumped the shark

By Information Liberation Tuesday, August 14, 2018


According to CNN opinion contributor Rafia Zakaria, the banning of Alex Jones and Infowars was the first step towards criminalizing “hate speech” as “a form of terrorism.”

From CNN, “Rafia Zakaria: It’s an important step in recognizing hate speech as a form of terrorism”:

The stripping of InfoWars from Facebook, Apple and other platforms is an important step in the recognition of nativist, nationalist and white supremacist hate speech as a form of terrorism.

CNN has published an article which literally claims Infowars is "complicit in domestic terror" – with zero evidence to back up such an incendiary claim.

This is why CNN is fake news.https://t.co/8NiVecNb6x pic.twitter.com/US35EFjFQ7

— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) August 14, 2018

In the aftermath of the decision of various service providers to stop carrying InfoWars content, there are many who will say that this represents an unprecedented affront to free speech and First Amendment rights. As a Muslim-American who has seen the detestable anti-Muslim propaganda of InfoWars content replicated across the worldwide web and popularized via Apple, Spotify and others, I know nothing could be farther from the truth.

The United States denies First Amendment protections to those sharing views involving support for or agreement with foreign terror organizations. In the case of Ali Shukri Amin, the Virginia teenager who was charged with providing material support for terrorism based on his tweets and blog, a US Federal Court declared that First Amendment protections do not apply to those who are being charged under the Material Support for Terrorism statute.

For the record, Alex Jones and Infowars has consistently opposed all the Neocons’ wars in the Middle East for around two decades. CNN has pushed every last one of them.

CNN has child blatantly read off a script in push for war to overthrow Assad, calls it a "7-year-old Syrian girl's heartbreaking plea." pic.twitter.com/bmk6PjsoHn

— Chris Menahan 🔹 (@infolibnews) April 5, 2017

After pushing for Trump to bomb Syria, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria said he “became president.”

Of course, none of that matters to Rafia Zakaria (relation unclear), whose work revolves around apologia for Islamic terrorism.

Zakaria continues:

Sadly, domestic terrorism, or Jones’ dangerous speech, in which he claims that he is in a holy war against Islam, is not prosecuted under that statute. This is a failing that has permitted the proliferation of platforms such as InfoWars, their presence on popular platforms a legitimization of sorts for their content.

This new decision is a step forward in recognizing that hate outlets, such as InfoWars, are complicit in domestic terror, and a relief to Muslim-Americans, like myself, who have been the target of online assaults and threats.

Rafia Zakaria is the author of “The Upstairs Wife: An Intimate History of Pakistan” (Beacon 2015) and “Veil” (Bloomsbury 2017). She is a columnist for Dawn newspaper in Pakistan and The Baffler.

In Zakaria’s world, those opposing Islamic terrorism and mass Islamic immigration to the West should be considered terrorists while Islamists carrying out actual terrorism in the West should be considered victims.


"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come and that soon, and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." Gen. T.J. Jackson, March 1861
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