Amazon Suspended Parler From Its Web Hosting (buzzfeednews.com)
There are no words. And with Parler down, there literally will be no words. In the space of 24 hours, Big Tech has banned conservative speech.
Not since September 11, 2001 have I been this fearful regarding the future of America.
Remember this?
Today, Apple became Big Brother. They shut down Parler for inciting violence. I’m glad I downloaded the app before they cut if off, but I’m sure Apple will find a way to block that too. In the ad, they tell us that 1984 won’t be like “1984”. Instead, 2021 will be.
Remember, Apple has no problem with Twitter, which allows this:
Just resign now. You lost. Its over. https://t.co/NtrE1yJ2By pic.twitter.com/Y75ewRv5E0
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) January 6, 2021
But Parler incites violence. Liberal fascism at its finest, folks.
What a sad day to be an American.
UPDATE: Remember this? Good times.
After they’ve tackled the election integrity issue, Democrats should move immediately to classify Facebook and Twitter as essential utilities. That would mean that neither would be able to ban verified accounts, or even limit posts by them.
Something like 75 million Americans said they use Facebook as their primary news source. You may not. I may not. But if that many people do, then it must be possible to hear all viewpoints there. This will be another way to allow people to believe in our elections.
Also, as I’ve documented many times, this is a serious freedom of speech issue. Now, I’m not claiming that it’s a First Amendment issue. That only applies to government entities. Even as an essential utility, they are free to run afoul of the First. It may be a Fourteenth Amendment issue, however. Hard to see that conservatives are getting equal protection under the law right now.
And like the issue on election integrity, if the Democrats refuse to tackle this one, it says that they don’t have a problem with Big Tech censorship.
That should make you scared. Very scared.
Remember your Neimöller.
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me
This is what cancel culture and the crackdowns on free speech are all about. You may not care that some people are being silenced, because you think they’re hateful or spreading disinformation. But next it will be someone else who is described as hateful. And then someone else. And eventually it will be you.
Forget slippery slopes here. We’re halfway down the mountain already. I fully expect the Democrats to do nothing, because those in power are happy with the situation.
Today I weep for America.
47% of all voters think that the Democrats stole this election. 36% say it’s very likely.
Huge: "How likely is it that Democrats stole votes or destroyed pro-Trump ballots in several states to ensure that Biden would win?"
— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) November 20, 2020
Democrats - 30% - 20% say Very Likely (VL)
Unaffiliated - 39% - 29% say VL
Republicans - 75% - 61% say VL
All Voters - 47% - 36% say VL https://t.co/NMDryxyLzq pic.twitter.com/EblRuV2AXY
I said previously what I thought brought on the protests at the Capitol this week. But the final straw was probably those numbers above. You can not have a functioning democracy, or democratic republic, if the voters do not have faith in their elections.
If the Democrats don’t move to fix this, we will get a repeat in 2022, and again in 2024. Only next time it will be worse.
We need serious election reforms. We need to be serious about ballot integrity and oversight. We need strict chain of custody requirements. If we’re going to continue to allow mail-in ballots (and we really shouldn’t), we must do everything possible to ensure their integrity.
If the Democrats don’t make correcting this problem their first order of business come January 20, it sends a clear message that they are just fine with how things have turned out.
Long term that’s a losing proposition for them, because it will ensure that things get worse, not better. But maybe they figure that by the time that happens that they’ll have restructured the country enough that it won’t matter.
Mozilla, developers of Firefox: 'We need more than deplatforming' | The Post Millennial
Look. It’s very simple. You either support free speech or you don’t. This isn’t a non-binary issue.
If you support free speech, then that means that you support speech you don’t agree with, even speech that disgusts you. It means you support the right of an individual to say things that you think are mean-spirited, wrong, and in fact lies.
Or you don’t.
If you fall into the “don’t” category, then I have no use for you or your organization.
The Purge Is Here: Twitter Banning Influencers on Right, Removing Followers (redstate.com)
Twitter, the “public forum” for free speech, has deleted 15,000 followers from my account in the last few hours.
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) January 7, 2021
There is no point engaging in a national conversation on a “forum” that is in actual fact a propaganda organ.
God bless America.
Much more at the link.Lost another 7000 followers in the last hour. The question is for all of us experiencing this: Are the now missing followers being banned or are their ‘followings’ being deleted arbitrarily by the Twitter Kommissars?
— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) January 9, 2021
The All-Out Assault on Conservative Thought Under Biden (pjmedia.com)
Big Tech did not remove House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s accounts when she called for “uprisings” against the Trump administration. Facebook and Twitter did not target Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez when she claimed that allegedly marginalized groups have “no choice but to riot.” These platforms did not act against Kamala Harris when she said the riots “should not” stop.
This week, Joe Biden condemned the Capitol rioters, saying, “What we witnessed yesterday was not dissent, it was not disorder, it was not protest. It was chaos. They weren’t protesters, don’t dare call them protesters. They were a riotous mob, insurrectionists, domestic terrorists. It’s that basic, it’s that simple.”
Yet he refused to speak in those terms when Black Lives Matter and antifa militants were throwing Molotov cocktails at federal buildings, setting up “autonomous zones,” and burning down cities.
We don’t have to play the “what if the left did this” game. After last summer, we know. Democrats on the Hill did much more to encourage the riots all summer long than Trump did. And yet, it’s Trump that is getting banned and being attacked from all angles.
Welcome to the Land of Biden.
Welcome to West China (theepochtimes.com)
Most of the article is behind a firewall, but it’s currently free by entering your email.
I wish I had something to add, but I’ll quote the relevant (to me) bit:
I’m the opposite. I’m a Occam’s Razor guy—what you see is what you get.
And Occam’s Razor tells me the United States is turning into a near clone of the People’s Republic of China.
That’s not communism in the traditional sense. Karl Marx wouldn’t recognize it, not that what he had on offer was any better. For China, the word communism is a kind of paleo-virtue signaling.
What China actually is (and where the United States is headed or has already arrived) is a form of oligarchic fascism. The capitalist market’s fine as long as it’s my capitalist market and you’re a member of my party.
Communist Party, Democratic Party, what difference does it make? As long as it’s ONE PARTY. And we’re in charge. The state über alles.
So forget about personal liberty and free expression and brush up your “social credit score.” Learn to be obedient, if you wish to survive.
And above all don’t say anything critical or even slightly controversial on social media or you’re a dead person—or might as well be because you’ll be canceled.
This is where we are. I’ve been documenting the assault on free speech by the left for more than a decade. Even I didn’t think we’d end up here.
As they say, read the whole thing.
