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Title: Ron Paul Posts Criticism Of Censorship On Social Media Shortly Before Facebook Blocks Him
Source: zerohedge
URL Source: https://www.zerohedge.com/technolog ... ia-shortly-facebook-blocks-him
Published: Jan 13, 2021
Author: Tyler Durden/Jonathan Turley
Post Date: 2021-01-13 13:41:47 by Esso
Keywords: None
Views: 467
Comments: 5

We have been discussing the chilling crackdown on free speech that has been building for years in the United States. This effort has accelerated in the aftermath of the Capitol riot including the shutdown sites like Parler. Now former Texas congressman Ron Paul, 85, has been blocked from using his Facebook page for unspecified violations of “community standards.” Paul’s last posting was linked to an article on the “shocking” increase of censorship on social media. Facebook then proceeded to block him under the same undefined “community standards” policy.

Paul, a libertarian leader and former presidential candidate, has been an outspoken critics of foreign wars and an advocate for civil liberties for decades. He wrote:

“With no explanation other than ‘repeatedly going against our community standards,’ @Facebook has blocked me from managing my page. Never have we received notice of violating community standards in the past and nowhere is the offending post identified.”

His son is Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) tweeted,

“Facebook now considers advocating for liberty to be sedition. Where will it end?”

Even before the riot, Democrats were calling for blacklists and retaliation against anyone deemed to be “complicit” with the Trump Administration. We have been discussing the rising threats against Trump supporters, lawyers, and officials in recent weeks from Democratic members are calling for blacklists to the Lincoln Project leading a a national effort to harass and abuse any lawyers representing the Republican party or President Trump. Others are calling for banning those “complicit” from college campuses while still others are demanding a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” to “hold Trump and his enablers accountable for the crimes they have committed.” Daily Beast editor-at-large Rick Wilson has added his own call for “humiliation,” “incarceration” and even ritualistic suicides for Trump supporters in an unhinged, vulgar column.

After the riots, the big tech companies moved to ban and block sites and individuals, including Parler which is the primary alternative to Twitter. Also, a top Forbes editor Randall Lane warned any company that they will be investigated if they hire any former Trump officials.

The riots are being used as a license to rollback on free speech and retaliate against conservatives. In the meantime, the silence of academics and many in the media is deafening. Many of those who have spoken for years about the dark period of McCarthyism and blacklisting are either supporting this censorship or remaining silent in the face of it. Now that conservatives are the targets, speech controls and blacklists appear understandable or even commendable.

The move against Paul, a long champion of free speech, shows how raw and comprehensive this crackdown has become. It shows how the threat to free speech has changed. It is like having a state media without state control. These companies are moving in unison but not necessarily with direct collusion. The riot was immediately taken as a green light to move against a huge variety of sites and individuals. As we have seen in Europe, such censorship becomes an insatiable appetite for greater and greater speech control. Even Germany’s Angela Merkel (who has a long history of anti-free speech actions) has criticized Twitter’s actions as inimical to free speech. Yet, most law professors and media figures in the United States remain silent.


Poster Comment:

Wow. How did we ever survive without "(un)social media" and cell phones? Half the time, I don't remember where my cell phone is. About the only time I actually carry it is when I'm away from home working or shopping. That's only because I want to be able to call a hook if my old beater breaks down.

An old GF calls me everyday, but she only calls my home phone to make sure that I'm not out having fun or carousing. Clever girl. :)

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#1. To: Esso (#0)

“With no explanation other than ‘repeatedly going against our community standards,’ @Facebook has blocked me from managing my page. Never have we received notice of violating community standards in the past and nowhere is the offending post identified.”

That is almost EXACTLY what they did to me, except I don't remember them using the word "repeatedly". No notice, no warning, and no citation of anything that might have constituted a violation and no chance for a review of the action.

Pinguinite  posted on  2021-01-13   13:48:29 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: Pinguinite, 4um (#1)

That is almost EXACTLY what they did to me...

When was that? I don't use any social media outside of 4um and ZH.

I can see FBs point though, you are kind of a wild-eyed radical. ;)

An ex-GF once "helped me out" by signing me up for FB without my consent. I immediately made her delete it.

That's why she's an ex-GF.

The light that burns twice as bright, burns half as long. - Dr. Eldon Tyrell

Godfrey Smith: Mike, I wouldn't worry. Prosperity is just around the corner.
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)

Esso  posted on  2021-01-13   14:06:05 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#3. To: Esso (#2)

When was that? I don't use any social media outside of 4um and ZH.

I opened the thing maybe 8 years ago or something, but never bothered with it until a couple years back. I got a lot of brothers & sisters who are on it, and a number of old high school friends. It is sometimes actually useful for things like getting info on a business or restaurant. Hours and location, that kind of thing. I was also in an expat community group for the place I'm in now, so it proved useful for meeting people. And of course it's wonderfully useful for arguing political points with insane family members who are die-hard leftists, even at the same time being entirely futile.

That's why she's an ex-GF.

Well, I don't want ot be your ex-GF, so I'll be sure not to do that!

Pinguinite  posted on  2021-01-13   14:14:20 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#4. To: Pinguinite (#3)

Well, I don't want ot be your ex-GF...

We should probably keep that on the down-low for now. I was kind of interested in Kayleigh McEnany, but she's got that whole marriage problem thing going on and the last time she did a presser, she looked like she'd been roofied up at a frat party.

I've got my eye on the gal in the striking blue shirt and the really yellow-blond hair in a car insurance ad on EweToob, but she's probably married too or something.

You'll always be my #1 big fellah.

The light that burns twice as bright, burns half as long. - Dr. Eldon Tyrell

Godfrey Smith: Mike, I wouldn't worry. Prosperity is just around the corner.
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)

Esso  posted on  2021-01-13   14:40:51 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#5. To: Esso (#4)

I was kind of interested in Kayleigh McEnany, but she's got that whole marriage problem thing going on and the last time she did a presser, she looked like she'd been roofied up at a frat party.

I noticed the same. Like she didn't get a shower that AM. I'm sure it was from pulling an all-nighter after the capital riot. Married, yes but she is a pistol-packing cutie for sure.

I've got my eye on the gal in the striking blue shirt and the really yellow-blond hair in a car insurance ad on EweToob, but she's probably married too or something.

If you want other potential dates, there are a few web sites that have women that express themselves rather intimately.

Pinguinite  posted on  2021-01-13   17:25:31 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


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