Apple is master of the universe

[Pat Hartman]

Does anyone understand how dangerous it is for our Republic to allow Apple and Google and Amazon, etc. to have the ability to suppress free speech? They are now threatening to remove Twitter from the Apple store if they don't shape up and go back to censoring. A couple of years ago Amazon pulled the rug out from under Parlar because they refused to suppress free speech on their forums. And those are only two important ones. Once people/companies lose their voice in the town square, they are effectively cancelled.

I hate big government. I hate having to have them step in but this is actually what they are for, to protect our individual rights. Instead, the White house is telling every big tech company who should be suppressed. They can't do it themselves because it violates the first amendment. So, instead, they have gotten big tech to do it for them. The jig is up, the emails show it in writing. Apparently having the press secretary do it on national television didn't make a big enough statement. MAKE THEM STOP. SOMEONE, ANYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why are the Democrats OK with this? I know a number of you will read this. WHY do you think censorship is OK? Any censorship? Who is the arbiter of speech that should be censored? If you offend me, should I be allowed to censor you? Are you really so naive as to believe censorship cannot be turned on you if left to fester? Look at what is going to happen in the House come January. Pelosi's overreaching dismissal of Republicans assigned to committees has now set a precedent and so in January, certain Democrats will be removed from their assigned committees. Committee assignments are no longer the prerogative of the party leaders. Now, the Speaker has the final say. What goes around comes around.

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

Does anyone understand how dangerous it is for our Republic to allow Apple and Google and Amazon, etc. to have the ability to suppress free speech?

You've mentioned this to me before Pat. In particular you took issue with me using Google's facilities for my documents, my emails etc. I didn't really put much store in the issue you raised, partly because I understand Google is approved for use on government systems, therefore I was naively convinced that they could not get up to any shenanigans!

I don't think anyone will ever really know why Elon Musk brought Twitter. I'm pretty sure he knows how to make money out of it, but I also know the guy is a genuine chap who is not so much interested in the money as interested in doing the "right thing"... I suspect he was as shocked as I was that Twitter banned a USA President from using it. It follows that if you're a colourful character like Elon Musk, a person who speaks their mind, then Elon has got to be thinking maybe I'm next!

His high-profile would have enabled him to start looking into Twitter, and I imagine he discovered how how poorly it was run, discovered how many people were banned, shadowbanned, shutdown etc and realised it was not right... Now he owns Twitter, I imagine he has first-hand access to the dealings between Twitter, the government, the FBI and they know that he will make sure the right thing is done, they must be squirming!

So yes I am as concerned as you are. No one person or group or government should be able to control any other person or group as long as it operates within reasonable parameters. Just because someone says they believe the world is flat is no reason to deny them access to a public platform.

They can form their own flat Earth group Connor organise their own cruise ship and sail over the edge as far as or as far as I'm concerned good luck to them they might find four elephants!

 

[Pat Hartman]

Google collects every search you make and every email that goes through their servers and mines them for information about you and me if we communicate via your google account even though I am not using Google for anything. It then sells that information with identifying information so that sellers can target you with ads.

At some level this is benign since you can ignore the ads or you can buy the stuff they are selling. Just keep in mind that YOU are the product. In exchange, you get to have "free" email and other useful web tools in addition to an excellent search engine. HOWEVER, unless you know that the search results are being filtered for political reasons, you don't know that you are being manipulated. It isn't that they are withholding information that is contrary to the current government position, it is that you just never see it because it is buried so far down the list that you wouldn't have the patience to just keep going though thousands of links. That's why you NEVER see positive stories about Trump. It isn't that they aren't written, it is that they are suppressed because they must be mis-information as are stories about ill effects from the COVID vaccine. The US is sticking its head in the ground but studies from Europe are leaking out. They may have followed our lead but they didn't do it for political reasons so now that the dust is clearing, they can sit back and analyze what actually happened.

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

That's why you NEVER see positive stories about Trump. It isn't that they aren't written, it is that they are suppressed because they must be mis-information as are stories about ill effects from the COVID vaccine.

Suppression - That's the Danger, NOT Trump....

 

[Pat Hartman]

But people have been so conditioned by this that their reflexive reaction to the word "Trump" is disgust So, the technique works. Skewing search results can swing elections and control the minds of people who allow it to happen.

KNOWING it is happening is the first step to freeing yourself from the attempted mind control. Software developers should have a much deeper understanding and FEAR of what the social media platforms are doing and yet, they are overwhelmingly fascists. They do not believe in free speech. They believe in government control perhaps "guided" by them so they can make the "great unwashed" do the "right" thing. But they certainly have no moral backbone to resist the government "suggestions" on who and what speech to suppress.

It's time that everyone started to understand the concept of confirmation bias and how it is influencing how they think to give them a chance to break free of the thought control. This is 1984 and high school seniors are no longer required to read it. I guess because it is already here and no one wants them to suspect that Orwell's premonitions actually came true. Right down to the flat screen TVs with the capability of listening to everything going on in your home.

Now that Elon Musk has taken control over Twitter, he has become the new boogeyman. In a twisted version of what Musk is actually doing, talking heads are now saying that he has to be "investigated" because no single man should be able to control what people say The fact that Musk is doing EXACTLY the opposite of what they are charging makes absolutely no difference whatsoever. Reality be damned. Whatever the talking heads say, must be true because all of them (confirmation bias) say the same thing. They even use the same words so apparently, there is a "talking points" memo that gets distributed each day so the talking heads don't get confused by actual facts.