With only 60 days left until the election, it’s time for some more election interference in the form of censorship from social media giants. I’ve been personally targeted with the censoring of posts by Facebook (which is also Instagram). YouTube and Twitter aren’t doing much censorship from my point of view. Twitter appears to be focused on applying “fact check” links to Donald Trump’s posts, specifically.
What is the Purpose?
I’m at about 32,000 followers on Instagram and 14,000 followers on my Facebook fan page. My personal Facebook page has around 19,000 followers but that is not the one affected, nor can it be monetized and it has a lower reach by default. The reason why I’ve brought up follower numbers here is that my pages are relatively small compared to the Hodge Twins (who are also having an issue with Facebook). Their page has over six million viewers.
An elephant in the room could be a critical question directed towards me. And that question is: “if they’re attacking big conservative pages, then why are they worried about your small pages? Maybe they recognize the fact that my pages are growing and that my online footprint is large. So if they can nip my pages in the proverbial bud, then they’re able to prevent my voice from reaching people, instead of playing damage control after the fact.
Political Activists or Content Moderators?
Censorship is the tool social media giants (appear) to utilize to accomplish political goals. Mainstream media and social media alike are leftist by nature. Their collective goal (if they have one) is to remove Trump from office. Facebook and Instagram are of course the same company, so there are similarities in how the platforms are moderated.
One common thread with Facebook and Instagram appears to be the removal and/or reducing the reach of posts with topics that they want to shy away from as a company. My post about Kyle Rittenhouse is a good example of how the companies moderate differently but also similarly. I posted a video on Instagram showing Rittenhouse being interviewed by The Daily Caller before he wound up allegedly shooting three people. Instagram removed it for violating terms and conditions. Facebook did not.
The video was probably user-flagged on Instagram due to the #blacklivesmatter hashtag I placed in its description section to gain more visibility. Hashtag visibility isn’t necessarily a thing on Facebook, though possible, so it probably did not get user-flagged. But the video may have raised the antenna of Facebook to keep an eye on my page for other content that they deem inappropriate. And when I say inappropriate, I mean politically disadvantageous and controversial.
Who’s Fact-Checking Fact-Checkers?
Facebook is threatening to delete my page if I continue to post “false” information. They sent me a notice with two citations of “problematic” posts. The first post was from August of this year and it featured doctors in Washington DC speaking about hydroxychloroquine. Hundreds of doctors feel the same way, but they dare not say anything because it’s a flying political arrow that no one wants to catch with their back.
President Trump spoke highly of the drug as effective in the battle against the virus. Media types and politicos have been fighting over it ever since. The political/radical (same thing) left say that Trump is giving dangerous medical advice that will claim the lives of Americans. Twitter has a permanent notice against using the drug on their curated “trending topics” section. Facebook and Instagram fall in line with the anti-Trump politicos and simply damage my page as a result.
The other post that Facebook gave me a violation on was about the “six percent” number coming from the CDC. Only 6% of Americans who died from the virus died from the virus exclusively with no other comorbidities. The article that I wrote then posted to Facebook was simply an analysis of the CDC report. And the report was sourced in the article.
Facebook gave me a fact-check link to read more about the “six percent” CDC number. I guess they want me to know that I’m wrong and why. But the link literally said the same thing I wrote in my article. The six percent number is real, and comes directly from the CDC, but some of the comorbidites that people die from aside from the virus could come from the virus itself. That “essential” line from the fact check link is literally on the Facebook post, its written in my article, and I said it myself in the video which is also in the article. Facebook would rather that I not publish information that anyone can find because it damages the left politically.
Who Are The Conspiracy Theorists?
Leftist ideologues consistently attack conservatives as adherents to outrages conspiracy theories. Qanon had several groups, pages, and profiles banned because they are labeled as “dangerous right-wing nutjobs.” Or “wackadoodles” as Ben Sasse said. But the reality here is that its the leftists who are the conspiracy theorists. Russiagate, Ukrainegate, Charlottesville (very fine people) and the list goes on. They are so hellbent on their political beliefs that they will endanger their own health by rejecting a drug that works like hydroxychloroquine.
A catch-all solution to big tech censorship is difficult to conceptualize and place into action. Having a personal website most certainly helps. Because that’s one place where your voice can’t be censored (for now.) Not placing all eggs into one basket helps as well (ask TikTokers). This may or may not even be an issue after the election. But it will rise again.
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