So Censorship is ok in post 2021?

Censorship was always around us. Being born in Soviet Union I was always taught not to talk about particular topics. Mostly politics and religion. Sexual orientation was also not to speak about. I went to Western Germany and it’s the same - a good tone requires not to talk about particular topics. At work absolutely the same - big Corp has code of conduct and there is clearly written what I can’t say. Freedom of speech lives in a small circle of friends where I can say everything I want.

i realized recently that the only websites I go to that aren't controlled by one of the tech giants are HN and the links I go to from here. I'm guessing I'm not alone in this. We're in for a wild ride once they really start clamping down on speech that doesn't meet their views. we're pretty close already

Words have consequences and it should not be up to others to pick up the rubble of your insurrection.

Companies frequently dropped some of the more extreme usenet groups back in the early days of the internet. AOL would block the use of certain keywords in their directory. Search engines have always dropped sites from their SERPs. This is not so new.

The justification given in many cases of deplatforming is spread of conspiracy theories. While I agree most of them are baseless and ridiculous, I would say, let them expose themselves as ridiculous on their own merits. If you say, but they're a lie!! Then I don't understand why the same criteria is not used with religion, any religion (they're all equally ridiculous and lies, and pry on the vulnerable to extract their money), and other baseless superstition (tarot, astrology, etc).

Imagine in the year 2300, 95% of the population is atheist and they deplatform anyone talking about religion because they're spreading dangerous lies. Imagine if on the year 1400 there was internet, and they would deplatform any atheist debunking religion as spreading dangerous lies. You can find examples in the political realm, imagine in Nazi Germany, or in Stalin Russia, that they would deplatform anyone spreading ideas not aligned with the regime.

As you said, "I don't agree with what you said, but I Will Defend to the Death Your Right to Say It."

This is flame bait.

Fascism is quite literally the merger of corporations with government (see corporatism [1]). In non-Nazi Fascist countries, such as proto-fascist pre-Anschluss Austria and Mussolini's Italy, the government was organized such that individuals and 'stakeholders' (i.e., companies, unions, and guilds) were given a say in government. In interviews with NYT journalists, this is the eventual structure that even Adolf Hitler also had in mind after the revolution was through [3].

Yesterday, we saw the American corporate board take actions that used to be the sole purview of a government. They did this at a time while the current administration (the one they harmed) pursues anti-trust lawsuits against them. This is a clear blurring in the distinction between the incoming administration's government and corporations. The incoming administration would do best to criticize the banning of their opposition. Not only would it make them look like they're taking the 'higher road', it would put them in line with other major liberal western powers, such as Germany, France, etc, all of whom have condemned what happened yesterday. However, instead, we have seen the embrace of these corporate actions by the new congress. It is especially concerning when the incoming president took more donations than his opposition from large corporations [2].

This is very concerning, and -- unlike the constant doom-predictions of 'fasciscm' of the last four years, which have been made without any attention paid to the history of fascism -- brings us closer to actual fascism -- that is to say, the merger of corporations, unions, and government -- than any action of the last four years. That is not to say we're Nazi Germany by any means (for that we'd have to start injecting the language of racial superiority into the picture), but I just want to point this out. The number of people cheering uncritically (especially those in government) is incredibly concerning.

References:

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism#Corporatist_economic_s... [2] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/20/us/politics/joe-biden-don... [3] https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1933/07/10/119...

Exact quote since it's behind a paywall:

"Asked if, after four years or twenty years of dictator ship, he foresaw the resumption of parliamentary government in Germany, the Chancellor [Hitler] paused: 'Yes,' he said finally, 'but with a Parliament of another and better type, in which representation will be on a technical basis. Such a development is the Italian corporative State.' (this is what I reference above on Wikipedia)

Censorship is going to be the future. As long as Big Tech is dominated by leftist culture you'll have censorship. No two ways about it. Ideological censorship has been going on for years now. It just has reached its peak and has now become acceptable. I mean we readily accepted surveillance haven't we? Censorship is no big deal. We'll live with it too. We are happy being conditioned and looked after. There is no scope for individual thought anymore. Either you are with the group or you aren't. Internet was an escape for me during the 90s and early 2000s. Not anymore. Now it is the same bullshit that we find in the real world. That distinction between virtual and real life has melted away. Anything you say online has repercussions offline and anything you do offline has repercussions online. The Golden Era of Internet as we knew it is over.

Your post was flagged within half an hour of being up. I think you got your answer. Do you need any more proof to where we are headed?

Freedom of speech does not apply to private property?

edit: in response to Karunamon, I understand that. But nobody is stopping you from having these discussions on your own platform. Other people do not need to or are obligated to host whatever you want to spew. Nobody is obligated to let you use their platform for free. You can have your speech, copyright infringing content, etc. somewhere on the internet and it will be accessible to the rest of the internet. Forums exist, domain registrars that are not in the US exist.

I don't understand how straight theft of content (for example video game clip stealing and covering in donation links that don't benefit anyone but the SEO spammer) is considered censorship. Nobody wants that crap. It benefits nobody other than spammers and wastes server resources.

> But now, say a word that may make any advertiser unhappy and get deplatformed in an instant (cue: twitch).

Come on, nobody is being banned from twitch for saying Mountain Dew Game Fuel tastes like shit. PogChamp was removed because the dude spouts nonstop conspiracy theories on the validity level of 5G causing HIV. They are being banned for repeatedly and continuously spamming, ban evading and sexually harassing people (re: simp-esque stuff).

> Both twitch and reddit ban as much as possible.

Parler also banned as much as possible anybody that didn't agree with their viewpoints, didn't they?