Community News
Blocked & Banned – A Deeper Look into why your content might be getting censored
BY SIMONE J. SMITH
This might have happened to you. You go to log into one of your social media accounts, and find out that it is locked. You are then informed that you have breached “conduct” of some sort, and then a day to two later, your account is reactivated with a note that says, “We have restored your account, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.”
We are in an interesting time. Many of our constitutional rights have been taken away from us, so covertly, that many of us don’t even realize that it is happening. COVID-19 has had a way of shining a light on topics that we might have spoken generally about before, but are now immense issues that have forced us to reassess how we think, act, and even feel.
Anyone who is open to alternative news has heard of Alex Jones, host of InfoWars. In 2018, some social media companies that carried his show took a stand. Facebook, Spotify, and YouTube (among others), removed Jones’ accounts from their platforms. Their claim; InfoWars violated their terms of use.
Platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have all started pulling content off their sites or banning certain people from using them in the name of ‘public safety’. Let’s take for example the documentary ‘Plandemic.’ There was a 23-minute clip of the film shared on YouTube featuring Dr Judy Mikovits. In the clip, Dr Judy makes claims and assertions proposing that billionaires are encouraging the spread of COVID-19, all for the sake of profit. She also stirred the hornet’s nest surrounding the topic of vaccines, which she claims they plan to mandate “experimental,” and “poisonous” vaccines on the public.
For some reason, whenever this video was shared, it would immediately be blocked or banned on certain social media platforms. Ivy Choi (a YouTube spokesperson), in a statement in the New York Post speaks on the fact that YouTube quickly removes flagged content that violates community guidelines, including recommended guidance on social distancing, and anything that goes against what mainstream media is pushing out. To them, it is seen as misinformation, and could be detrimental to people using the platform.
The question that needs to be asked is, what is the responsibility of social media platforms to moderate misinformation or incendiary viewpoints? When have they over stepped their place, and then begin to infringe on our rights as citizens of the planet?
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, states that: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
As a universal right, we should have the freedom to say what we want, as long as it falls within the guidelines of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It can be argued that censorship and regulations limit the freedom of expression on social media platforms, and are now an uncontrolled and no longer “free” environment.
Censorship shows up in different forms, and is often described as a removal of an individual or group’s voice. It seems that the only people who are allowed to have a voice are the economic groups who have the power to control the media through ownership. What does this mean? It means that mainstream media is no longer a reflection of ideas from the people that make up the community; instead, it is part of a class structure.
Now, there are times when laws must be passed to limit free expression, but it has to be reasonable and must be justified. Restrictions are necessary in order to balance the fundamental freedoms of those who are unable to do it for themselves, and to otherwise limit political violence and tyranny. Examples of necessary restrictions include:
Hate speech
This refers to the advocacy and incitement of genocide or violence against a particular defined racial, ethnic, gender, sexual, religious or other identifiable group.
Obscenity
A broad term referring to literature that is unreasonable, dangerous or intensely inappropriate to society at large, such as child pornography or fraudulent medication intended to promote sexual virility
In current cases, censorship and restrictions have been placed on individuals who are not going against any human rights. Let’s take a look at some recent cases, and I invite readers to comment on the article below with any other cases of censorship or blocking that they have seen.
Youtube is getting ready to deplatform London Real
With over 600 Long Format Interviews, London Real broadcasts content that you can’t find in the mainstream media. Most recently he did an interview with David Icke, discussing COVID-19, which turned a lot of heads. In one of his latest videos, he shows great concern about the fact that his show might be pulled off YouTube because of his content. YouTube didn’t seem to have any issues with his content before COVID-19. Why now?
It’s over. pic.twitter.com/gHBxqJ8hQ0
— London Real (@LondonRealTV) May 16, 2020
Police officer’s viral rant to cops enforcing tyranny
On Tuesday, May 5th, Officer G. Anderson spoke out on the fact that he did not feel right enforcing the current laws that he is being told to enforce. He made it clear that he thought they went against our human rights.
On May 6th, he received a message from his commanding officer applauding him for his speech. Three hours later, it was at 400,000 views, and his commanding officer called him back and told him he had to take the video down. He said no! His message was, “If you believe in something in your heart, you have to stand on your convictions.” He refused to step down even though he had a family to take care.
A few hours later, he got a call saying that he had to take the video down, plus he was going to get reprimanded. It was a violation of policy. He said no! They kept citing different policies as to why what he did was wrong. The chief of police finally gave it to him straight. If you openly defy your governor you cannot be a police officer in the State of Washington.
This officer inspired another officer to speak out. He speaks on the constitution being suspended, and supports his fellow officer. He speaks about his own bout with the coronavirus. He talks about being censored on Facebook, and his threads being taken down. Videos are being taken down under the guise of global safety. He speaks out against Bill Gates, and mentions a few other great points.
Dr Knut M. Wittkowski criticizes nation’s currents steps to fight the coronavirus
Dr Knut M. Wittkowski is the former head of biostatistics, epidemiology and research design at Rockefeller University. YouTube removed a video of him talking about the virus that had racked up more than 1.3 million views. At the age of 65, Wittkowski is a ferocious critic of the nation’s current steps to fight the coronavirus. He has disparaged social distancing. He says it is only prolonging the virus’ existence, and has attacked the current lockdown as mostly unnecessary.
Now, let’s take a look at another case. In 2017, not to long after the terrorist attack in London, U.S. Congressman Clay Higgins wrote a Facebook Post calling for the slaughter of “radicalized” Muslims. “Hunt them, identify them, and kill them. Kill them all. For the sake of all that is good and righteous. Kill them all.” (Angwin & Grassegger, 2017) Higgins’ plea went untouched by Facebook workers. Odd! This sounds like hate speech to me Facebook.
Mark Zuckerberg was questioned on anti-vaccine censorship, and Facebook has since deleted the video. There is good reason for that. In the video, he testifies that Facebook believes in giving people a voice. “We care deeply about giving people a voice. At the same time, we hear, that people want us to stop the spread of misinformation. Especially misleading health advice.” His understanding of the scientific consensus is that people should get vaccines. Um! Zuckerberg. Shouldn’t people have the opportunity to speak out against something that goes against something they believe? His reply, “We discourage groups that are anti-vaccine by using tactics to defer people going to them. We don’t recommend content to go to these groups.”
If you are like me, you might be a little confused by this.
It seems like Trump, of all people, is stepping in to crack down on: Google, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for illegally using their massive company to silence and censor the American people.
He is actually considering forming a panel to investigate social media company’s biases, especially any unfairness towards accounts with controversial viewpoints. Of course, owners of social media companies are very worried about what might happen when Trump investigates their actions. That’s why they are now doing everything in their power to charm the president, including setting up private dinners with him to dispel the impression that Facebook has an inherent liberal bias. Ha!
After reading this article, I want you to take a moment to post something that you have wanted to say, as long as it does not hurt other people. They may try to silence some of us, but they cannot silence all of us.
Resources
Congressional Research Services
https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R45650.pdf
Facebook’s Secret Censorship Rules Protect White Men From Hate Speech But Not Black Children
https://www.propublica.org/article/facebook-hate-speech-censorship-internal-documents-algorithms
Freedom Forum Institute
https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/first-amendment-center/primers/free-expression-on-social-media/