03/28/2024

Censorship or Terms of Service?

Trump and Republicans keep talking about being censored on social media but what they really seem to mean is that they are being banned for violating the Terms of Service of the platforms.

I saw Byron York complaining about Facebook “censorship” in an article about Trump supporters who use Facebook to organize their Truck parades. Side question, what is up with the commodity fetishism amongst Trump supporters with their flags and hats and parades? His post implies that they cannot stage a rally because Facebook censors their political topics.

You can read the full article (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/facebook-trump-and-the-fight-to-win-pennsylvania) but this is what grabbed my attention:

“Facebook shut me down twice in two days,” said Ed Kroupa of Penn Township, who is organizing Sunday’s turnpike rally. “They disabled my ability to share and post in other groups.” The Facebook crackdown happened after Kroupa posted articles that did not meet the approval of Facebook’s censors. And when, because of that, he was denied access to the site, that meant he was also denied the ability to organize as well.

Ummm, what? Facebook did not shut down or “censor” the guy because he is a Trump supporter or Republican. He was shut down because he violated their policy. The exact same thing happens if I try to share the articles. When it happens to me I call it not following the rules or Terms of Service. Not censorship.

Ironically, I am in Facebook jail. Are they censoring me for being liberal and talking trash about Trump? Are they censoring me for the snowflake Republican who had their feelings hurt by my name? No. I signed up for their platform and terms of service and I have to follow their rules. I also happen to think their rules are full of shit. But their website. Their rules.

This censorship as they call it is not a political disagreement or a liberal vs. conservative ideological battle or debate as Republicans like to frame it. This is not Adam Smith and Karl Marx. Republicans are upset that they are not allowed to spread false or fake information like the Hunter Biden story. A story so questionable that even Fox News declined to break it.

We all understand that Republicans have to rely on half-truths, innuendo, heavily edited video, and out of context soundbites to overcome their lack of argument on substance. We get it.

And of course this is the very reason that conservatives feel that they are targeted more (although not sure the data confirms it) and that we hear more about conservatives being banned from various platforms. They do not follow the rules because they do not think they apply to them. And when they are banned for not following the rules they cry censorship over the shady emails, or heavily edited videos, or thumb drive that was lost in the mail.

I have this blog you are reading. You can leave a comment below and tell me how cool I am (thanks) or you can tell me I am an idiot and how Jesus would be blah blah blah (never heard that one). I am not responsible for your comment on my blog but I can delete it whenever I want because you are on my blog. I prolly won’t tho..

Peace be with you,

Leftneck Jesus


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