Remember when former President Donald Trump was banned from Facebook in January? Now it’s not just his account; it’s also his voice.
Facebook has removed an interview between former President Donald Trump and his daughter-in-law Lara Trump. Facebook-owned Instagram has also sent a warning to Lara that any footage from the interview will also be removed and could result in “additional limitations on the accounts.”
The alleged report from Facebook states, “We are reaching out to let you know that we removed content from Lara Trump’s Facebook Page that featured President Trump speaking: In line with the block we placed on Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, further content posted in the voice of Donald Trump will be removed and result in additional limitations on the accounts.”
In March, YouTube banned Trump’s CPAC speech for similar reasons that allegedly violating community standards. The speech was taken down from Right Side Broadcasting’s YouTube channel as part of the network’s two-week suspension.
Of course, if you’re Ayatollah Khomeini declaring destruction to Israel and America, you’re free to post. Or if you happen to hate Trump’s guts and want to declare it on Facebook or Instagram, no problem. Just don’t be conservative. That’s apparently the number-one no-no for social media success.
But when do Americans get to say “enough” to Big Tech censorship? Some states are already initiating efforts, but their focus tends to center on protecting political candidates. Instead, some of America’s conservatives are working to launch new platforms.
But it’s not as easy as it sounds.
Remember Parler? It’s hard to believe that less than three months ago, Americans had a conservative social media platform that included millions of users. But a coordinated attack from Amazon, Apple and Google deleted Parler’s app and shut down its website, leaving the company in the dark.
Now MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is launching a network. Trump claims to have a platform in the works too. We’re all for American innovation, but it shouldn’t take shutting down conservatives on current social media to force the opportunity.
YouTube star Steven Crowder has been banned from YouTube multiple times for his conservative views. Yes, he’s sometimes very provocative in his opinions, but still far less than daily uploads you can find a thousand other places. But a big following and a big voice on a conservative issue is all it takes to become the latest banished user allegedly peddling hate speech.
Doesn’t it mean something to have a 6-3 conservative advantage in the U.S. Supreme Court? It’s about time someone takes a Big Tech censorship challenge up for review. If so, perhaps we could see a day when a Republican president could still use YouTube without fear of a shutdown. Conservatives could share their free speech rights without wondering if content would be deleted.
These “dreams” were once a reality. Today’s new reality includes censorship “police” ready to bring down wrath on those who won’t play by the left’s rules. Makes you think Big Tech leaders work in Washington or something. Oh, wait. They already do. Lots of them. For Democrats. Which makes protecting free speech on social media all that more important.
