Big tech v. free speech: how did we get here and what’s next

For decades, our online privacy wasn’t even a blip on people’s radar.

But, like the fable of the boiling frog, the public is now in an uproar.

Since the 2016 election, Russian meddling and Cambridge Analytica scandal, along with weekly data breaches combined with complaints of online bias to the left there seems to be a new story every day.

Multiple court have sided with big tech being protected by the First Amendment.

Now, some conservative media outlets are speaking out against Silicon Valley elite selling users private information. They want Google, Facebook and Twitter to follow the Communications Decency Act, to remain non-partisan, or face losing their legal immunity for user content. 

American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology senior research psychologist Dr. Robert Epstein said we have no idea how big the problem is and powerful they are. He says Google blocks access to millions of Web sites every day.

“The fined Google last year $2.7 billion for having biased search results that put their own comparative shopping service ahead of competitors, virtually driving competitors out of business,” said Epstein.

He cited a few months ago, Google “accidentally” blocked access to every single Web site in Japan for 11 minutes. And, on January 31, 2009, Google blocked access to the Internet for 40 minutes.

“We’ve got to be very, very creative in how we cope with this problem. And, I don’t think that the traditional approaches that we’ve used in the past to deal with big bullies, or oligarchs, I don’t think they’re going to help us now, I think we’ve got different challenges this time,” said Epstein.

On May 25, the European Union will put very strict privacy laws in place.

Examples of some conservative media outlets that want lawmakers to make big tech accountable.

Brietbart Editor in Chief Alex Marlow said we’re not the consumer, we’re the product.

“The biggest threat to freedom of speech and information is no longer establishment media, it’s now the tech oligarchs. This is a direct attack of freedom of speech and expression in the US. Traditional remedies of the past are not going to work this time.”

Government Accountability Institute President Peter Schweizer said there seem to be policies in place for big tech to prohibit conservative content. “Without sanctions in place against the company, big tech will continue with a laissez faire attitude.”

Prager University founder Dennis Prager said they’ve “sued Google/YouTube for placing about 40 of our five-minute online courses on its ‘Restricted’ list… YouTube blocks our courses because they have conservative content. “

Media Research Center Vice President of Business and Culture Dan Gainor said “ Conservatives have always run into problems with media monopolies, but these tech and social media companies are more powerful than their old counterparts ever were. They have the ability to completely silence anyone they disagree with and the right can’t afford to let that happen.”

The Daily Caller Deputy Editor Scott Greer 

“Big Tech has shown time and time again that it prefers progressive viewpoints and will silence conservative opinions. This great power gives them the ability to stamp out right-wing speech from the public square, and conservatives fear they will be squeezed out of these platforms solely based on their politics. Conservatives should continue to call these acts into question and demand lawmakers keep an eye on Big Tech’s power.”

The Gateway Pundit D.C. Bureau Chief Lucian Wintrich 

“They are using their control of communication and information to shape and then push a very far-left narrative. We’ve seen across-the-board drops in video views, dramatic decreases in social media traffic, they are effectively blunting our voice. They’ll mark an article criticizing Obama’s presidential portrait as “racist” and issue a suspension; they’ll claim a video discussing free market capitalism is “classist” and demonitize it.”

Right Side Broadcasting Network CEO Joe Seales 

“Over the last 16 months, RSBN has been harassed and censored in countless ways by big tech. They’ve interrupted and removed our broadcasts, stopped notifying our followers of new videos and keep us out of search results. Because of these tactics, our revenue has dropped 95% from where it was at the end of 2016. It is clear their ultimate goal is to destroy and demoralize any media outlet that believes President Trump should get a fair shake.”

InfoWars Editor-at-Large Paul Joseph Watson 

“Facebook, Twitter and Google have established a virtual monopoly on social media. Restricting people’s access to these platforms based on their political beliefs is a human rights issue. Just as the phone company should not be able to disconnect you because of the content of your conversations, people should not be banned for their ideology, except in extreme circumstances when laws are being broken.

We need to rally lawmakers to make holding big tech accountable one of their top priorities. We need to demand Google, Facebook and Twitter adhere to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which dictates they remain non-partisan, or face losing their legal immunity for user content”


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