Now that the internet has overpowered broadcasting in manipulating people these liberal pieces of crap have found a work around with the big liberal leaning tech companies to restrict the 1st Amendment as the Fairness Doctrine once did....
Yup. The freedoms guaranteed in the 1st Amendment are the most important. IMO, the 4th Amendment closely follows the importance of the 1st. And then the 2nd.
It absolutely blows my mind that all these European countries have these "hate speech" laws that make illegal various speech. That's such a dangerous slippery slope. The government can manipulate that in a jiffy to include all kinds of things.
There's just certain things that a free society has to put up with for liberty's sake and allowing idiots to have free speech is one of them.
I personally think it is wrong to protest the anthem but I respect the right of free speech and think they should be allowed. However, this is all done for private companies so the companies also have rights. Like I said it’s a tough one. I guess if I fall to the rights of the companies. We all have free speech rights but not at work. There are also issues regarding our behavior when not at work. If I commit a crime my company should be about to fire me as it affects the companies image and possibly bottom line.
Then let those that disagree with the protesters vote with their wallets. My wife and I will be.
I don't view social media sites as public forums, so I don't think 1st amendment rights apply.
Matt
I can wail about free speech all I want if I would like to throw a bunch of F-bombs on Bowsite, but I'm still going to get the boot from Pat, and for good reason.
if you tinker a bit, the bias becomes blatant
" They are private companies and "conservatives" are not a protected class in the U.S. If you don't like what blahhhblahhh is doing then go somewhere else. I thought most conservatives were for the right to refuse service for businesses? "
KS, cute, and "liberals" are a protected class, basically anything not conservative is in that class, must be quite comforting
It's called FREEDOM.
By the way, I’ve had a job since I was 14. Never asked for a handout. Raised 5 kids all have jobs and they have never asked for a hand out. That’s my comfort.
Easy example, Actress Jenny McCarthy on Vaccination or Dr Oz on about 200 different things you can do for various health issues. Both have a public platform and thus gather more "belief" from those who hear them... But are presenting information which is factually inaccurate. You can say it, but no one needs to cover it. So perhaps that's not censorship, it's just choosing not to spread information which is not true.
That's pretty hard to do in today's day and age... But that's a version of censorship I'm ok with.
That said, as much as I'd like to not see people discriminated against for their political views, sexual orientation, etc, I believe companies should be free to serve whoever they please. Just like a baker shouldn't be forced to make a cake for someone he doesn't want to, a social media company should feel free to limit who says what on their platform. I'm more than happy to let the market take over in those situations instead of the government.
Can you show me where conservative voices are being silenced? I see a lot of extreme voices being silenced on both sides of the political spectrum. For me I feel it's quite the opposite. Given my preferences and what I like and follow, Facebook has labeled me "very conservative" and I feel my ad content certainly reflects that. I have a lot of very pro-Trump friends and I haven't seen their voices silenced in any way. All that said, if Facebook or Google wants to silence anyone they should be allowed. Seems like if it was such an issue it would be a great opportunity for a "conservative-friendly" social media company to come in and take market share.
In my question to you, I asked you if discriminate against was the same as silence. Is it?
One reason Facebook did away with their news feed is that it was proven that leftist ideas were pushed far more than conservative ideas on the news feed. They were about to lose many subscribers.
It has been proven multiple times that the leftists who own most of the media are choosing to promote leftist ideas and discourage the promotion of conservative ideas. I agree that this is their right.
You seem to be denying that this is even happening.
Facebook still has a News Feed. And no, I haven't seen anything that emphatically shows liberal voices are being promoted over conservative voices or conservatives are unfairly silenced or silenced more frequently than liberal voices. I'm not saying it's never happened - just that I don't believe it is systematic and widespread. I've seen examples of people spouting hateful things or fake news, which to me does not constitute unfair discriminatory practices or excessive bias in political content. As you've pointed out, there are clearly monetary implications for them if they are found to be openly discriminating against conservatives and I think these companies care far more about earning a dollar than they do about pushing a liberal agenda.
HA/KS's Link
How about this one?
""But part 10," writes Vindicator managing editor Casey Stinnett, "did not appear. Instead, The Vindicator received a notice from Facebook saying that the post 'goes against our standards on hate speech.'"
The post in question contained paragraphs 27 through 31 of the Declaration of Independence, the grievance section of the document wherein the put-upon colonists detail all the irreconcilable differences they have with King George III.
Stinnett says that he cannot be sure which exact grievance ran afoul of Facebook's policy, but he assumes that it's paragraph 31, which excoriates the King for inciting "domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages."
The removal of the post was an automated action, and Stinnett sent a "feedback message" to Facebook with the hopes of reaching a human being who could then exempt the Declaration of Independence from its hate speech restrictions.
Fearful that sharing more of the text might trigger the deletion of its Facebook page, The Vindicator has suspended its serialization of the declaration.*"
Facebook has decided that part of the Declaration of Independence is hate speech and cannot appear on Facebook.
If you go directly to Fox News site, you will find that they have at least six articles posted about the incident.
In the five pages of search results are all of the left-leaning "news" sites including NPR, huffpo, and even wikipedia, but not a single link to Fox News.
There are a couple of links to local stations with Fox in their name, but even those do not contain the Fox News articles.
By intentionally guiding seekers of information to the leftist sites, search engines are skewing the entire national conversation to the left. By choosing to publish only news that makes the left look good and the right look bad (even if true), they are making far-left kookism seem main stream and main stream historical attitude look like far-right kookism.
Nobody has shown me anything convincing that says Facebook, or Google, or Twitter, or whoever is systematically trying to silence conservative voices. I never said it doesn't happen or that their algorithms don't do things that are stupid. I know someone who was banned for posting a topless picture of Steven Tyler. Things happen with technology that are dumb. I think a lot of what is posted is some sort of banning over a violation of communal standards, and you hear more about the ones that happen to conservatives. There are plenty of liberal groups that have been kicked off Facebook as well for some violation of these standards. It doesn't mean they are being systematically targeted or silenced. I just googled "security clearance Trump" given that is a popular headline right now -- the Fox News article was third from the top.
And if they are, I contend Facebook (or whoever) should be able to. That doesn't mean I have to agree with their actions or think their actions are right. The OP asked if I'm concerned or OK with censorship. I believe as a company Facebook should serve whoever they want. That doesn't mean I won't judge them. I think the baker that refused service to the gay couple getting married should have the right to do so -- doesn't mean I don't think he's a jerk for making that decision. Again, let the market decide what type of censorship is deemed acceptable, not the government.
Happy to agree to disagree and return to censorship debates :).
Google "denial"...... they'll likely bring up a river in Egypt.....
And, again, I don't consider social media sites or search engines public, so free speech rights don't apply. Find something else to be offended about.
Matt
If not censoring, they are definitely proven to skew information and results toward the left.
Some here deny that.
Is it OK?
Most here agree that a private business should be able to skew any way they want. I would include any private person. They should be able to associate with or not associate with anyone they want. I would include things like renting or selling a home.
Again, some deny that skewing information to the left has an impact on our society. I believe that it does. If all people hear are the leftist views, opinions, and ideas, they are more likely to think leftist think.
"If I want to read FOX's coverage of a story I simply add "FOX" to the search terms."
Why would anyone intentionally seek out the Fox articles if they have been taught from infancy that Fox is bad?
No pay per click, and better search results. I don't believe they edit for political content.
AWESOME video!
But as consumers we need to know the truth and facts about those we are dealing with. Thus the discussion. What they are doing is quite clear, suppression if not outright censorship of viewpoints they don't like. It is not illegal. But IMO highly unethical as they claim they do not. That's the thing with many with leftist views. They don't think they censor or suppress or doing anything wrong.... they just are doing what is right.....like when a Putz tells a knowing lie.... or as when Youtube/Facebook pulls gun reviews and such or shuts down a couple of black ladies that support Trump.
The consumer has many rights too. One is to speak out about what they see going on. Sunlight is the best disinfectant for many things.....
