Down with Corporate Censorship

BRENDAN O’NEILL EDITOR

First Facebook and YouTube and now Twitter: all the social-media giants have banned Alex Jones and Infowars. Many so-called liberals are cheering these acts of corporate censorship, this unilateral enforcement of correct-speak by some of the most powerful corporations on Earth. This is folly of epic proportions. These people are giving a green-light to Big Tech to install itself as the moral arbiter of public discussion. Because let’s face it: the internet, particularly social media, is where public discussion takes place today. It is the new public square. Asking unaccountable capitalists to control what may be said in this public square is wrong and dangerous. We’re entering an era of outsourced censorship, where the terrible things once done by the state – the silencing of dissenters, the punishment of the eccentric – is now done by Silicon Valley suits. Who knows which ideas will next be branded ‘hate speech’ – that is, ‘verboten’ – by these corporate censors. It will happen. Soon. They have been given the power by foolish liberals to act as judge, jury and executioner on online speech, and they will use that power.

Editor’s Note: petty. Tyrants on local social media are just as bad.  Can we all just listen to each other?