WILL “CENSORSHIP” CHANGE?
by Sharon Rondeau
(May 28, 2020) — During the 9:00 AM EDT hour, President Donald Trump tweeted, without further elaboration, that “This will be a Big Day for Social Media and FAIRNESS!“
During his return flight from the NASA Space Center in Florida Wednesday evening, CBS News’s Mark Knoller reported that the White House Press Secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, said the president would be signing an executive order relating to alleged “censorship” of certain voices by social media on Thursday.
That development followed Trump’s warning, directed to Twitter “and their other compatriots” to “Clean up your act, NOW!!!!”
Trump’s ire at Twitter appears to have arisen as a result of the platform’s initiation of a “fact-checking” operation which it applied to two tweets Trump issued on Tuesday alleging that implementing mail-in voting on a large-scale in the United States would lead to significant election fraud.
Twitter’s fact-checker, Yoel Roth, a known anti–Trump personality, determined that Trump’s assertion was false, citing CNN and The Washington Post as his sources.
Fox News and several members of Congress have explained over the last two days that Congress has exempted social-media platforms from “liability for user content” because they are not “publishers.” Conversely, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and others have suggested that once a social-media outlet assumes journalistic activities such as “fact-checking,” it should lose that exemption.
According to The New York Times, “The Trump administration is preparing an executive order intended to curtail the legal protections that shield social media companies from liability for what gets posted on their platforms, two senior administration officials said early Thursday.”
The protections are found in “Section 230” of the 1996 Communications Decency Act.
Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are three social-media giants which have faced scrutiny for alleged bias against “conservatives” and censorship of certain content. In some cases, lawsuits have been initiated.
YouTube is owned by Google, which has also been accused of biased search filtering in favor of Democrats.
Update, 3:26 PM EDT: at today’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Kelly McEnany said she expects the president to sign the executive order “before 5:00 PM” today. “It is still in the works, but we are getting closer,” she said in response to a reporter’s question.
I take a position on it. If Twitter is going to censor/annotate comments, given their scope and the impression of fairness that they purvey to the general public, and given the fact that they do their best to collect any piece of information they can on us, then they should be obligated (and actually, without reservation, WANT) to mention, up-front, clearly and openly that they will do so. And further, because of the impression of fairness that all of the larger social networks have manufactured with their public rhetoric, they should make it known EXACTLY what the “strictures” are that they will impose.
The Post and Email doesn’t claim to be a social network, nor does it really give the outward impression that it is for everyone. Nor does it collect the vast swath of information that any of those tech giants collect. I have not provided a phone number to comment here, not a name, not a verified email address, etc. I know for a FACT that I’m not being spammed with information passed on to “partners”, and on and on. Nothing here is equivalent to the tech companies (except that WordPress is one such tech company, that does collect information) that should have a responsibility to be as fair as they give the impression of being.
All internet sites with words on them that are opinions are not really exactly the same, nor should they all be treated the same. So, it sounds like that sauce recipe might be different in this case.
Websites should be treated according to how they conduct their business. And for Sharon, this is not a business.
When Sharon starts collecting (in dozens, if not thousands, of huge multiple-hangar-sized, water-cooled data centers) and distributing our personal information, setting cookies that track us into the restroom and on our phones, activates our webcams and microphones, using an indecipherable privacy policy to obfuscate her intentions–doesn’t sell but instead HANDS OVER our information to “partners” (including those in China), and starts making bucketloads of money from advertisers and collecting billions in government subsidies, while promoting agendas that do not have a single logical or proven basis in the well-being of this country…then, this might be equivalent.
The Post & Email is very much a business. However, we do not share any personal information with third parties and never will unless a reader requests it in writing. As for the technology required to track people, we would not even know where to start!
You do realize that this potentially means (1) the return of the “Fairness Doctrine,” which would mean that radio stations that air Rush Limbaugh would essentially have to air a liberal counter-part for the same amount of time and as close as possible to the same times (and ditto with Fox News), (2) that this site could be forced to end moderation of comments or be liable for discriminating against differing viewpoints and (3) that the government would become the official censor — you might like that with Trump and AG Barr but how happy would you be with that with Biden and AG Kamala Harris. Remember, sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander (and for those who don’t know what that means, look it up).
Respectfully,
Howard Appel
my email is howardappel@yahoo.com
The Post & Email simply reported the development and does not take a position on it.
Perhaps then the Birth Certificate issue will stand a chance of fair coverage : https://wearethellod.com/birther-is-as-birther-does