Free Speech

I hesitated to even write this, but it needs said. I did tone it down just a bit, in the interest of legitimate dialogue.

Twitter

Free speech: an American ideal, at least, historically speaking. For years, though, it has been under attack by Big Tech at the behest of the government because it knows it did not have the authority to do this itself. So it has 'requested' 'moderation' of speech, to which tech companies have willingly obliged. Now that Elon Musk, a free speech absolutist like myself, has taken control of Twitter, the government's facade is off. The executive branch has announced a 'Disinformation Governance Board'. The timing of this just days after Elon's takeover of the leftist echo chamber, commonly known as Twitter, is no mere coincidence. This board's stated goal, contrasted with its name, is Orwellian:

> one of the key reasons the Board was established, is to maintain the Dept's committment to protecting free speech, privacy, civil rights, & civil liberties

Yes, you'll 'proctect free speech' by identifying 'misinformation'. War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength, right?

This has not been the only response to the buyout: many leftists are fleeing Twitter because they know as well as I do that their views do not hold up under legitimate criticism, which will happen with free speech. I am ambivalent on the exodus. On the one hand, I laugh at the fleers because of their inability to handle mere text on a screen. On the other hand, people leaving Twitter reduces its market share, thereby wresting power away from Silicon Valley.

Whether or not Elon will actually put his money where his mouth is, remains to be seen. A free speech platform cannot survive under Twitter's current technical and political infrastructure. Last I checked, it was hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Its front ends are hosted in the Google and Apple app stores. Amazon, Google and Apple all loathe the American free speech ethic (Parler, anyone?). To get around that, I see 1 of 2, or both, things needing to happen:

Twitter will now have to self-host everything, and optimize the web app for it eventually replacing the native apps when those are censored off the mainstream app stores

Twitter can keep relying on its existing infrastructure, and get the Parler treatment

As much as I want Twitter now to do the former, I almost hope it (in the short term) does the latter. The 3 Big Tech companies that performed the coordinated takedown of Parler did so in clear violation of anti-trust laws. Using their high market share to boycott a single company, all in the same week, and almost plunging it into bankruptcy because they didn't like it? That sounds like cause for a Standard Oil- or Bell Telephone-like treatment. I have no delusions that the federal government actually cares about following its own laws; it openly flaunts its disdain for them. The ways in which it does could be its own post, but suffice it to say I don't think it'll take anti-trust action without prompting. What kind of prompting? Lawsuits. Lawsuits, which, given the targets (Amazon, Google, Apple and the federal government), would be costly. Elon, though, has the wherewithal to pursue legal action in the event that Twitter does get the Parler treatment. That is why I mentioned that I hope that the latter option happens, so that this censorious anti-competitive action can finally have its day in court.

Censorship

I have somewhat digressed from my original topic: free speech itself, and the attacks on it.

The fact that the 'Disinformation Governance Board' (read: Ministry of Truth) is being created by the federal government is absolutely terrifying. This is something that I would expect out of Communist China, North Korea, Iran or the Soviet Union. Has this country really fallen so far that our culture has grown to hate our founding principles? Rherotical question; of course it has, look around you.

Proponents of censorship, or as they refer to it, preventing 'hate' speech, 'misinformation', 'disinformation', etc. invariably end up citing the Paradox of Intolerance, which in short, argues that:

> You must censor or not tolerate the intolerant, otherwise you'll allow Nazis to speak and they will take over.

This is horseshit. The very act of silencing or censoring that which you don't like makes *you* the Nazi. Once you establish the precedent that 'offensive' speech is illegal, then anything that challenges the political or cultural powers that be can then be deemed offensive and thereby banned.

That's not even counting the fact that censoring 'offensive' speech is self-defeating. Let's take this stance at face value: offensive speech should be illegal. Ok, fine. I, as a free speech absolutist, find the mere suggestion of censorship, of *any* speech *whatsoever* to be deeply, indescribably, offensive. It is an affront to every fiber of my being. That is, whether you merely say it should be done, or you actively perform the censorship, then I am offended and appalled. So then, by your own words, since I am offended, you should apologize, retract your statement and never mention it again, thereby putting an end to the call for censorship. By merely taking your words at face value, I have defeated your stance.

Practicalities

Do I actually expect logic to sway anyone or for it to play out this way? Not a chance. Because, let's face it, those calling for censorship don't actually want to stop anything offensive. They simply either:

Cannot handle being challenged

Cannot handle the truth

Get off on the power trip

Or, more likely, all 3.

> but words are violence!

Also horseshit. Violence requires physical contact. If you are so triggered by mere sounds made by someone else's mouth, then your worldview clearly is indefensible.

> but muh feelers!

Facts don't care about your feelings. Tolerance means me recognizing your right to piss me off, and my right to piss you off. Don't like it? Then don't talk to me, or go hide in your safe space where no words can ever challenge your thinking and you can stagnate in your growth as a human being.

TL;DR

Hatred of free speech is anti-American.

Censorship will inevitably lead to the following (not overnight, mind you, but like a frog boiling in a pot of water not noticing that he is about to be cooked to death): You challenged the policies of the ruling class? State observable facts about the nature of reality? Question the 'unquestionable' (i.e., out yourself as a heretic in the religion of the Leftist State)? Off to the gulags for you!

Fuck Joe Stali---, err, Biden.