On January 6th, 2021 extremists posing as Trump supporters raided the United States Capitol building. There has been a great deal of speculation about this incident and whether there might be a deeper reason for what occurred in Washington, DC that fateful day. Many extremists gathered at this event — and not only Trump supporters: a Black Lives Matter and Democrat activist even made the trip. An otherwise peaceful event was quickly warped by the media and Congress Democrats to make it seem as if all Trump supporters agreed with and were responsible for what happened.
Big Tech and the radical Left’s response, however, will change the digital world forever.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg both blocked and removed President Donald J. Trump from their platforms. This means that President Trump is unable to speak to the general American population without having an official press conference. As all Americans know, Twitter was a key way for the POTUS to communicate with the people.
President Trump was not only removed from all major servers, he was removed from Youtube for around a week. This raid by Big Tech on the freedom of speech – thus causing censorship of many – specifically Conservatives – raised a lot of eyebrows and caused a surge of anger.
The First Amendment is in place to protect the American ideals of free speech, and even though it is not Congress imposing this radicalization against free speech, Big Tech is still violating the ideals that the First Amendment contains, which hold that “Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
Many individuals, both American citizens, government officials, and newscasters have shown their disdain towards these acts. Tucker Carlson, host of Fox’s Tucker Carlson Tonight said that “After 100 years of championing the First Amendment, Democrats are now telling you that censorship is absolutely necessary to protect you. And their donors in Big Tech are happy to oblige.” In a tweet, Nikki Haley made a significant comparison between the United States and China: “Silencing people, not to mention the President of the U.S., is what happens in China not our country.” Haley also noted that “From college classrooms to corporate boardrooms, to media green rooms, to holiday dining rooms, liberal elites want to silence anyone who does not toe the far-left line.” “Censoring and purging political viewpoints will not make these ideas suddenly disappear. It will only make these viewpoints go underground, create resentments, and make wounds feaster,” said Patrice Onwuka in an opinion piece for Fox. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham added “”This is a defining moment in American democracy. If we do not push back against Google and Twitter, we will lose our democratic ability to talk to each other.”
Many within the Republican landscape have witnessed their accounts being removed from various social media servers, or they have lost an incredible amount of followers on these servers — not to mention the well known “shadow bans” that effectively kill accounts ability to interact on the platforms.
It is truly harmful towards our great nation to have people censored. Americans are being censored just because the Tech Barons do not agree with their political views, and because they believe that leaders were calling for the rioting and tumult that happened, despite the facts and President Trump’s word giving the opposite message.
In the midst of this censorship, there is a lot of confusion about why people who did not incite violence are being censored and removed from social media accounts while Kathy Griffin was never removed from social media platforms after her horrid photo holding a blood, severed Trump head. She has since reposted this photo on her social media, back in November 2020, around the time of the election. She was never removed from social media even though she posted an image that depicted violence against the democratically-elected POTUS. The Left stood up for her and raised the First Amendment up, but have not taken that stance now as Republicans are losing their ability to communicate on social media servers.
There is a major call by Big Tech and other Democrats to halt and “cancel” Parler, a social media app that allows for free speech and conversation, to be removed from Apple, Amazon, Google, and other servers. According to The Epoch Times, Parler CEO John Matze is confident that Parler will return to servers by the end of this month. Matze himself released an update on January 16th on Parler.com about the reason Parler was ever started, and it is significant to note: “We believe privacy is paramount and free speech essential, especially on social media. Our aim has always been to provide a nonpartisan public sphere where individuals and exercise their rights to both. We will resolve any challenge before us and plan to welcome all of you back soon. We will not let civil discourse perish!”
Luckily, United States Marine Vet Tyler Webster has created a new social media platform called First Social that allows for free speech and no censorship. This platform is a great resource that serves to provide free speech, while maintaining a nonpartisan public atmosphere. The platform is in the early stages, so it is still solely a website for now.
One day, I think all Americans would like to see when Big Tech does not have so much of a stronghold over communication, but until then, all we can do is still speak up and speak our minds and keep the First Amendment in mind.
Opinions expressed within are the property of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of any other member or the paper itself.
