Every intelligent, freedom-loving person, that is who.
Look I am not saying I like Alex Jones, nor that I think he is even close to being right about many of the things said on his website.
I will say this, what the three big social networks colluded to do to him is extremely dangerous and troubling. They emplaced their bans within 12 hours of each other on Monday. There was nothing different, nothing unique and nothing out of the ordinary than the standard "Alex Jones" fare on his site over the last few days. None of the sites in question provided any actual examples of what Jones and his people did to justify the ban.
There are two major problems with this.
1) If someone was inclined to believe in the vast conspiracies that Jones often hinted at, I mean really bought in, what would this coordinated ban tell that person? What of the person that sat somewhere on the fence, they almost bought in, but thought the conspiracies too fantastic to be real, might this have pushed them firmly into a believer camp?
By doing something so brutal, obvious and stupid and colluding, on the same day, to ban speech for not apparent or provable reason Facebook, Apple and YouTube essentially created a Martyr for true believers of the global conspiracy to enslave mankind. Is the leadership of these organizations so arrogant and callous as to not to care?
Perhaps with the mid-term elections coming up coupled with the belief that Alex Jones played a key part in getting Trump elected was too much for these people to stomach. But how stupid! Can anyone predict what the impact on a diehard believer in the conspiracy, one that has now seen literal proof that "the purge" has begun, will be? What might a person like that do in such a world? Can we hold Mark Zuckerburg responsible for what an unhinged person might, nay probably will, do based upon Marks callous, arrogant and foolish behavior?
2) More importantly - social media and therefore the modern medium for public debate - is controlled by just a few large corporations. These are no more "private company" networks than Ma Bell was in the old days. These are private companies that manage a public resource. They simply cannot be allowed to decide what is and what is not "hate speech", they cannot be allowed to silence an extreme view they do not like. They cannot be given free access to control the debate.
Look - I admit, Alex Jones and InfoWars say some pretty outlandish things. Much of their conspiracy stuff begs one to suspend rational thought to accept any of it. But that is the right of a free people with the right of free speech. Let the court of public opinion decide, not a few elites that control major public resources.
Certainly, Facebook, Apple and YouTube are not acting in a vacuum. The European Union and anti-freedom anti-Brexit reactionaries in Europe have been pressuring the social media giants to restrict free speech. Here is the thing. Those people be damned - we are Americans and these companies are headquartered in the United States. It is patently un-American to allow the laws of another country to adversely affect the freedom of Americans. Europeans are not alone, in recent weeks US politicians have questioned and pressured these companies to "do something".
How authoritarian! How can anyone that ascribed to the tradition of classical liberalism (yeah that should be you both Republicans and Democrats) sit by and think such is acceptable? To silence some groups, because we do not like them? Who will be next? The thing about freedom is you just cannot accept it being taken away from anyone willy-nilly. Next, they just might come for you.
Hate Alex Jones if you want to - I would not have him over for dinner. But I would fight for his right to free speech. There is a great deal of hypocrisy at play - there are many people with more "progressive" views that say things just as outrageous as Jones, they are celebrated not censored.
Anyone that calls themselves a liberal or a progressive that is not outraged at what has been done to Jones really is showing their true colors. They are neither progressive nor liberal but rather socialist authoritarians that seek not freedom but control and dominance. If there is an upside to all of this the fact that those that claim to be liberals that are rejoicing have really shown their true colors.
History has proven where this leads. There were a lot of "good" liberal progressives that found their way to the guillotine - in the end, they were just not politically correct enough. Just after the Communist revolution in Russia, there were many people judged and harassed by their neighbors for just not being "Communist" enough. What we are seeing is nothing different - and left unchecked it will possibly lead to similar outcomes.
Make no mistake about this. Jones may be a bit off his rocker, but he was an easy target. If we allow this to stand there will be more people silenced, your church, a politicins that thinks a little differently - perhaps someday you and I.
Look I am not saying I like Alex Jones, nor that I think he is even close to being right about many of the things said on his website.
I will say this, what the three big social networks colluded to do to him is extremely dangerous and troubling. They emplaced their bans within 12 hours of each other on Monday. There was nothing different, nothing unique and nothing out of the ordinary than the standard "Alex Jones" fare on his site over the last few days. None of the sites in question provided any actual examples of what Jones and his people did to justify the ban.
There are two major problems with this.
1) If someone was inclined to believe in the vast conspiracies that Jones often hinted at, I mean really bought in, what would this coordinated ban tell that person? What of the person that sat somewhere on the fence, they almost bought in, but thought the conspiracies too fantastic to be real, might this have pushed them firmly into a believer camp?
By doing something so brutal, obvious and stupid and colluding, on the same day, to ban speech for not apparent or provable reason Facebook, Apple and YouTube essentially created a Martyr for true believers of the global conspiracy to enslave mankind. Is the leadership of these organizations so arrogant and callous as to not to care?
Perhaps with the mid-term elections coming up coupled with the belief that Alex Jones played a key part in getting Trump elected was too much for these people to stomach. But how stupid! Can anyone predict what the impact on a diehard believer in the conspiracy, one that has now seen literal proof that "the purge" has begun, will be? What might a person like that do in such a world? Can we hold Mark Zuckerburg responsible for what an unhinged person might, nay probably will, do based upon Marks callous, arrogant and foolish behavior?
2) More importantly - social media and therefore the modern medium for public debate - is controlled by just a few large corporations. These are no more "private company" networks than Ma Bell was in the old days. These are private companies that manage a public resource. They simply cannot be allowed to decide what is and what is not "hate speech", they cannot be allowed to silence an extreme view they do not like. They cannot be given free access to control the debate.
Look - I admit, Alex Jones and InfoWars say some pretty outlandish things. Much of their conspiracy stuff begs one to suspend rational thought to accept any of it. But that is the right of a free people with the right of free speech. Let the court of public opinion decide, not a few elites that control major public resources.
Certainly, Facebook, Apple and YouTube are not acting in a vacuum. The European Union and anti-freedom anti-Brexit reactionaries in Europe have been pressuring the social media giants to restrict free speech. Here is the thing. Those people be damned - we are Americans and these companies are headquartered in the United States. It is patently un-American to allow the laws of another country to adversely affect the freedom of Americans. Europeans are not alone, in recent weeks US politicians have questioned and pressured these companies to "do something".
How authoritarian! How can anyone that ascribed to the tradition of classical liberalism (yeah that should be you both Republicans and Democrats) sit by and think such is acceptable? To silence some groups, because we do not like them? Who will be next? The thing about freedom is you just cannot accept it being taken away from anyone willy-nilly. Next, they just might come for you.
Hate Alex Jones if you want to - I would not have him over for dinner. But I would fight for his right to free speech. There is a great deal of hypocrisy at play - there are many people with more "progressive" views that say things just as outrageous as Jones, they are celebrated not censored.
Anyone that calls themselves a liberal or a progressive that is not outraged at what has been done to Jones really is showing their true colors. They are neither progressive nor liberal but rather socialist authoritarians that seek not freedom but control and dominance. If there is an upside to all of this the fact that those that claim to be liberals that are rejoicing have really shown their true colors.
History has proven where this leads. There were a lot of "good" liberal progressives that found their way to the guillotine - in the end, they were just not politically correct enough. Just after the Communist revolution in Russia, there were many people judged and harassed by their neighbors for just not being "Communist" enough. What we are seeing is nothing different - and left unchecked it will possibly lead to similar outcomes.
Make no mistake about this. Jones may be a bit off his rocker, but he was an easy target. If we allow this to stand there will be more people silenced, your church, a politicins that thinks a little differently - perhaps someday you and I.
