Facebook bans 'voice of Trump' from platform

[trekrok]

What's troubling to me about the info in the link is the power FB exerts in driving a certain narrative - and the silencing of the counter arguments. A huge chunk of the population gets their information from FB, Instagram and so on. When big tech literally is wiping out one side of the argument for big swaths of the population, they are exerting a very dangerous power, from my perspective.

And what makes it an even nastier level is that they are actually censoring people accounts that just contain Trump's voice.

 

[TwoForFlinching]

Look on the bright side. The more firms censor the people and try to push people further to the left, the more human nature will take hold and people will rebel. Ultimately, this characteristic of facebook could eventually spawn a new conservative movement.

 

[wawazat]

Look on the bright side. The more firms censor the people and try to push people further to the left, the more human nature will take hold and people will rebel. Ultimately, this characteristic of facebook could eventually spawn a new conservative movement.

I like your optimism, but I think that logic applies to our generation and older. Well, I guess I am technically a millennial, being born in 84, but I was born to a country blue collar family so none of that new fangled crap really works for me. Haha.

The younger generations were born during a far more comfortable time than most folks we associate with. They grew up in an era where their parents could foot the bill for longer and had the financial freedom to shelter them from the sacrifice that may be needed to fund their own independence. They are used to being reliant on a parental figure and now that they are adults, the government is the next in line to play that role for them. A lot of the spirit and values I was raised to strive for and hold dear when I earned them are not of any importance to the younger generations.

 

[TwoForFlinching]

I like your optimism, but I think that logic applies to our generation and older. Well, I guess I am technically a millennial, being born in 84, but I was born to a country blue collar family so none of that new fangled crap really works for me. Haha.

The younger generations were born during a far more comfortable time than most folks we associate with. They grew up in an era where there parents could foot the bill for longer and had the financial freedom to shelter them from the sacrifice that may be needed to fund their own independence. They are used to being reliant on a parental figure and now that they are adults, the government is the next in line to play that role for them. A lot of the spirit and values I was raised to strive for and hold dear when I earned them are not of any importance to the younger generations.

It's a curious thing. I remember our generation around the turn of the century being much different. We started the 'woke' trend that zoomers latched onto, and they went so full-tard with it, millennials started back towards center and the more conservative side of things as we matured past their tardiness.

I think a lot of our issues as Americans stem from a lack of relevant education on the hottest topics. I remember the days before I owned guns. I didn't come from a family that was pro or anti gun. It literally never came up. I remember watching columbine happen live on TV at 16. In all of the conversations that followed, to a person that has literally zero clue about the topic of guns, it was logical that banning guns would prevent another tragedy to happen. I still wasn't pro or anti gun in that thought process, just answering the problem with half the equation. It wasn't until I met my hetero life partner and huge 2A bestie that I started to see the other half of the issue, and ultimately realized that guns don't kill people, criminals do.

To be relevantly back on point, I don't think the real threat to censorship is the limiting of one opinion over the other. Most homes and social circles have been that way through human history. The core problem is when given the chance, people these days don't talk to each other. Instead, we tend to talk at each other. We don't hear each other, we listen long enough to respond. Just look at most of the threads here... We, as a species, have forgotten how to converse and it's the fault of social media. For example, Facebook makes it really easy for anyone to blind themselves from any thought that they don't share. You can simply just unfollow, hide, unlike, and block any person or thought you don't like. Seems like a really handy tool for the powers that be to further drive people apart. That even extends to forums like this one. We all have one constitutional thing in common, a love for firearms and freedom, yet there still exists an ignore button to help those who use it remain unchallenged in their beliefs.

I'll be the first to admit it, I've used the ignore function here, mostly to limit a newbs reach to me in the classifieds. I probably appear on a bunch of ignore lists too. It's a useful tool but it's a double edged Trojan sword. I still remain optimistic that censorship from big tech might be a good thing. As beliefs become more isolated in the various communities, eventually, like we see here so often, the great liberal collectives will eventually be without a common enemy, turn on each other, and start eating their own. It's human nature.

 

[wawazat]

I will agree that every trend has an expiration date. Watching the news, political debates, social media debates, personal discussions I have had with people that have a different opinion, etc., I think we are losing the emphasis on intelligent discourse. We are seeing a huge increase in emotionally driven disagreements where the person that screams their emotional outcries the loudest is seen as the moral victor. It is no longer accepted by a large number of people that two people can intelligently disagree on a topic and neither be wrong. The issue with that is it takes a lot of effort, mental strength, and emotional discipline to engage in that type of discussion. A lot of folks prefer to take the easy way out and resort to personal attacks and assigning names to the other person labelling them as the next Hitler, or a snowflake, or a redneck bigot, or a libtard.

I will openly admit I often have many of these thoughts go through my head when I am reading through news stories, watching interviews, or reading posts on the Internet. I do try to curb myself before those thoughts become weaponized and leave my mouth though. At the end of the day, there is nothing that builds more respect for a person than being able to intelligently disagree with someone and find a common point where we can each at least appreciate the other person's perspective. Some see that as a slippery slope to caving into the opposition. I see it as gaining additional tools and understanding to have an even more persuasive discussion the next time it comes up. Maybe, just maybe, I can win one or two over to see why their way may not be the only way and make another ally in the process.

 

[TwoForFlinching]

Heck yeah dude. I make liberal friends all the time. I can't tell you how many have become centered moderate gun owners over the years. Imagine how different the political landscape would look if we all embraced "the enemy"

 

[dennishoddy]

I still remain optimistic that censorship from big tech might be a good thing.

You had me until you said this.
Censorship by a private company is legal, but why would they want to do that? We all know it's to influence the liberal narrative and shut down anybody that disagrees so members can only see one opinion.
For me, It should be a class I felony to post under anything but your own name on any social media.
We would be a much more polite society if you actually had to put your identity out there and stand behind it vs the anonymity these forums provide to fling poo at others with no repercussions.

 

[TwoForFlinching]

You had me until you said this.
Censorship by a private company is legal, but why would they want to do that? We all know it's to influence the liberal narrative and shut down anybody that disagrees so members can only see one opinion.

Perhaps you didn't read far enough to see why. Human nature dictates everyone needs an enemy. We do. And when the censorship by private companies that we have zero control or influence over gets to a point where one view point reigns Supreme, they will turn on each other much like we do here, leading to expansion of the minds for the subconscious sake of rebellion. Just an opinion based on my own experiences.

 

[dennishoddy]

Perhaps you didn't read far enough to see why. Human nature dictates everyone needs an enemy. We do. And when the censorship by private companies that we have zero control or influence over gets to a point where one view point reigns Supreme, they will turn on each other much like we do here, leading to expansion of the minds for the subconscious sake of rebellion. Just an opinion based on my own experiences.

I read until the end, and quoted you exactly. You and I will never see any rebellion on social media until stage names are banned and one is held personally responsible for their comments and opinions.

 

[TwoForFlinching]

I read until the end, and quoted you exactly. You and I will never see any rebellion on social media until stage names are banned and one is held personally responsible for their comments and opinions.

Fair enough. We probably don't disagree, but it seems we're about to debate a common belief from two different angles. I'll settle for the bit we agree on.