The censorship of conservatives on FB and Twitter got me thinking

[Incredibale]

Why is it that leftists are virulently anti-property rights and against freedom of association EXCEPT when they own and control various means of communication like FB, Twitter, message boards, etc?

"Freedom for me but not for thee" seems to be the leftist motto these days.

[s_bushido]

How, exactly, does one get censored on Facebook.

I know US conservatives have to push their persecution complex in order to make themselves feel relevant, but you'd probably get more sympathy if you dropped this "leftists are evil" garbage and recognize that it's more than just conservatives who run afoul of the hate-mobs on social media.

[Garnier Fructis]

Why is it that leftists are virulently anti-property rights and against freedom of association EXCEPT when they own and control various means of communication like FB, Twitter, message boards, etc?

"Freedom for me but not for thee" seems to be the leftist motto these days.

Why are you so against the rights of those two companies to set their own policies?

[Incredibale]

Why are you so against the rights of those two companies to set their own policies?

Why are YOU against companies having the right to set their own policies when they rustle your jimmies?

[PC2]

Why are you so against the rights of those two companies to set their own policies?

Nobody is arguing about rights or the law, free expression is a matter of morals and ethics.

Do you want to live in a society where you are silenced because of your political opinions?

Could Facebook delete your account because you are pro-choice or pro-life? I guess technically yes, that doesn't mean that is what ought to happen in a society that values things like freedom, speech, and debate.

[Venant]

Nobody is arguing about rights or the law, free expression is a matter of morals and ethics.

Do you want to live in a society where you are silenced because of your political opinions?

Could Facebook delete your account because you are pro-choice or pro-life? I guess technically yes, that doesn't mean that is what ought to happen in a society that values things like freedom, speech, and debate.

This is why an issue like this becomes more and more serious as more channels of public discourse are completely dominated by private enterprise. People who support censoring certain speech will jump in and say' the constitution doesn't protect you in this case', but it isn't a question of constitutional rights, its a question of whether you want to live in a free society.

[klogaroth]

The issue is that there isn't a conservative equivalent.

Look at other companies that publish or host things. In particular print media. A lot of them are incredibly biased, but because there's a range of views on offer you can just pick the paper that suits you.

There isn't a conservative social media platform of any significant note. Any that are vaguely neutral get called out as leftist because that's how the internet works. If you're not with us you're against us.

Honestly though, social media lets people get away with a lot. Prior to social media if you tried to find a platform for some of the stuff people post you would've gotten nowhere. Nobody would've published the stuff people come out with.
Not even the most conservative of newspapers would touch the likes of Britain First with a bargepole, and yet they've existed on Facebook for years.

[Deleted]

Twitler and failbook have officially passed into propaganda territory now.

I don't use FB, but I have a twitler acc and will sit in the first row, sipping champagne as I watch it crash and burn.

[Silverlock]

All animals are equal but some are more equal then others.

[Deleted]

Why are YOU against companies having the right to set their own policies when they rustle your jimmies?

Because their reasons are detrminetal to natural order of things such as truth or reality.

[Daerio]

My conservative friends on facebook constantly circulate propaganda, memes and Obama attack ads that have absolutely no basis in reality. A google search would reveal their sources as ridiculous, but why check your source when it supports your world view?

I'm willing to accept that Facebook/Twitter is left-leaning, but shouldn't intentional mis-information being put out by conservatives be deleted? It really does make your base dumber and less informed.

In fact, aren't there journalism laws meant to fight this exact thing going on?

[drewknukem1]

Why is it that leftists are virulently anti-property rights and against freedom of association EXCEPT when they own and control various means of communication like FB, Twitter, message boards, etc?

"Freedom for me but not for thee" seems to be the leftist motto these days.

I have to ask, what cases have you particularly annoyed? I find it extremely likely that they were "censored" because of reasons other than their political leanings. You're also not doing yourself any favors politicizing an issue without giving any supporting evidence aside from opinion.

[oxymoronic]

reminds me of these forums

extreme lefties are weird people

[Deleted]

reminds me of these forums

extreme lefties are weird people

actually, all extreme people are weird and should best be avoided.

[Garnier Fructis]

Nobody is arguing about rights or the law, free expression is a matter of morals and ethics.

Do you want to live in a society where you are silenced because of your political opinions?

Could Facebook delete your account because you are pro-choice or pro-life? I guess technically yes, that doesn't mean that is what ought to happen in a society that values things like freedom, speech, and debate.

It's an Incredibale thread; thoughtful discussion was pretty much ruled out at the beginning. I'm just upping my post count here.

[PC2]

My conservative friends on facebook constantly circulate propaganda, memes and Obama attack ads that have absolutely no basis in reality. A google search would reveal their sources as ridiculous, but why check your source when it supports your world view?

I'm willing to accept that Facebook/Twitter is left-leaning, but shouldn't intentional mis-information being put out by conservatives be deleted? It really does make your base dumber and less informed.

In fact, aren't there journalism laws meant to fight this exact thing going on?

Absolutely not given your first sentence context. You made the choice of adding those people and have the choice of deleting them, it is an environment you have reasonable control over.

However, lets say a big public billboard said "Obama was convicted of raping multiple girls", that would be a different matter. Aside from being wrong information, there is no reasonable expectation that a passerby could control the information they or their kids are exposed to.

[Ahovv]

My conservative friends on facebook constantly circulate propaganda, memes and Obama attack ads that have absolutely no basis in reality. A google search would reveal their sources as ridiculous, but why check your source when it supports your world view?

I'm willing to accept that Facebook/Twitter is left-leaning, but shouldn't intentional mis-information being put out by conservatives be deleted? It really does make your base dumber and less informed.

In fact, aren't there journalism laws meant to fight this exact thing going on?

If you think "misinformation" should be deleted, you don't want to live in a free society.

[Mormolyce]

Spread hate and lies, get banned, cry about censorship. Rinse repeat.

For bonus points, accuse those people telling you to stop spreading hate of hating your hate.

[spinner981]

actually, all extreme people are weird and should best be avoided.

What if they're just extremely nice?

Spread hate and lies, get banned, cry about censorship. Rinse repeat.

For bonus points, accuse those people telling you to stop spreading hate of hating your hate.

I don't understand the idea that people think they can just define whatever they disagree with as 'hatred' and then claim they are justified in bashing and banning people in support of that which they call 'hatred'.

I basically just automatically assume that anyone who calls somebody else a hater has no idea what they are talking about, since they obviously have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to the meaning of hatred.

[TexasRules]

All animals are equal but some are more equal then others.

Favorite Eric Arthur Blair quote.

But OT: My girlfriend has been censored on Facebook for something she posted(was poitical in nature and contained no cursing or nudity). It's the great argument of why can a company tell you what you can post on their website, but the government tells a company who it HAS to sell it's cakes to?