Ever wonder why you see so many fewer online newspapers? Ever wonder why some of the remaining ones have added subscriptions or donations to the bottom of their articles? Many brave publications have remained, but their fight has not been an easy one. Who is to blame for this treacherous inroad into the Constitutionally guaranteed freedom of the press?
What Facebook has done is comparable to removing vast quantities of the paper stock from all of the world’s newspapers. Facebook has been the paper that the news has relied upon, but the monolithic company has gradually limited its paper stock, cutting it in half, cutting it in half again, and now once again. Without access to Facebook, the media is in serious jeopardy — but they are not alone.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who prefers AOC, gave the country a heads up when it comes to Facebook. She tweeted “our society (namely, our democracy) has a Facebook problem:”
‘Just because a monopoly business happens to be online, that doesn’t mean it’s good. Facebook may have its own problems, but it’s increasingly starting to look like our society (namely, our democracy) has a Facebook problem.’
The freshmen representatives have come into the political world full of enthusiasm, and bringing a strongly appreciated understanding of technology. A Republican in a technology hearing embarrassed himself when he demanded to know why the CEO of Google, LLC Sundar Pichai could not tell him how to fix his phone.
Ocasio-Cortez was right. Facebook has an inordinate amount of editing power over who it lets use its space. It is the penultimate censor.
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is running for president, yet Facebook took down several of her ads, because she criticized the mega corporation in them. Warren tweeted:
‘Curious why I think FB has too much power? Let’s start with their ability to shut down a debate over whether FB has too much power. Thanks for restoring my posts. But I want a social media marketplace that isn’t dominated by a single censor.’
Tech reporter for POLITICO Cristiano Lima tweeted that Facebook hit Warren when she called for “the breakup of Facebook and other tech giants:”
‘NEW: Facebook took down several Elizabeth Warren ads calling for the breakup of Facebook and other tech giants’
The U.S. lawmakers have been dangerously behind when it came to understanding technology and how that impacts our culture and our national security. Whoever has the best technology wins. That was true of the inventions of the bow and arrow, the rifle, the Nuclear bomb, and now the internet. We do not want to be behind Russia or China.
Twitter world caught fire over the single censorship power of Facebook. Check out some of our favorites below:
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.