CDZ Is Big Tech an Oligarchy

[TroglocratsRdumb]

Big Tech is censoring free speech.
They are labeling people's opinions as "misinformation"
Is Big Tech a Political Oligarchy?
Are they damaging our country?
Do they have an ethical or legal right to censorship of free speech?


Oligarchy (from Greek ὀλιγαρχία (oligarkhía); from ὀλίγος (olígos) 'few', and ἄρχω (arkho) 'to rule or to command')[1][2][3] is a form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people.
Oligarchy - Wikipedia

 

[Donald H]

Astounding how attitudes have been changed so much on this site, so quickly. This goes along in sync with the destroying of the Trump nightmare, to create the perfect political storm in the land of the gun!

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

Big Tech is censoring free speech.
They are labeling people's opinions as "misinformation"
Is Big Tech a Political Oligarchy?
Are they damaging our country?
Do they have an ethical or legal right to censorship of free speech?


Oligarchy (from Greek ὀλιγαρχία (oligarkhía); from ὀλίγος (olígos) 'few', and ἄρχω (arkho) 'to rule or to command')[1][2][3] is a form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people.
Oligarchy - Wikipedia

“Big Tech is censoring free speech.”

Wrong.

The doctrine of free speech concerns solely the relationship between government and those governed, not between or among private persons or entities – such as social media sites.

‘They are labeling people's opinions as "misinformation"’

As private entities, social media are at liberty to edit content as they sees fit, where such editing in no manner ‘violates’ free speech.

“Is Big Tech a Political Oligarchy?”

No.

Social media are not government and have no power or authority – they cannot enact or enforce laws, they cannot arrest citizens, they cannot prosecute citizens, and they cannot subject citizens to punitive measures; absent power or authority there is no ‘oligarchy.’

“Are they damaging our country?”

No.

“Do they have an ethical or legal right to censorship of free speech?”

Again, as private entities the doctrine of free speech does not apply; how social media edit their content neither preempts nor restricts free speech.

The right’s unwarranted hostility toward social media is predicated on the wrongheaded notion that entities such as FB and Twitter are attempting to ‘silence’ conservative views – when in fact nothing could be further from the truth.

It’s perfectly appropriate for social media to identify rightwing fake news, misinformation, conspiracy theories, racism, bigotry, hate, and lies as being such – conservatives have ample other opportunities to spread their misinformation, hate, and lies online as the internet is infinite.

 

[Moonglow]

Big Tech is censoring free speech.
They are labeling people's opinions as "misinformation"
Is Big Tech a Political Oligarchy?
Are they damaging our country?
Do they have an ethical or legal right to censorship of free speech?


Oligarchy (from Greek ὀλιγαρχία (oligarkhía); from ὀλίγος (olígos) 'few', and ἄρχω (arkho) 'to rule or to command')[1][2][3] is a form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people.
Oligarchy - Wikipedia

If you don't like it don't use it...There is no freedom of speech guarantees from a private business. You must be hallucinating to think they do..

 

[westwall]

Big Tech is censoring free speech.
They are labeling people's opinions as "misinformation"
Is Big Tech a Political Oligarchy?
Are they damaging our country?
Do they have an ethical or legal right to censorship of free speech?


Oligarchy (from Greek ὀλιγαρχία (oligarkhía); from ὀλίγος (olígos) 'few', and ἄρχω (arkho) 'to rule or to command')[1][2][3] is a form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people.
Oligarchy - Wikipedia

Yes, they are. They need to be destroyed.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

If one doesn’t approve of what FB or Twitter are doing, then don’t participate.

Millions of Americans have no FB or Twitter account and are perfectly capable of having full and comprehensive access to the internet – to entertainment, news, and information.

Social media are not an ‘oligarchy,’ they are not a ‘monopoly,’ and they are not a ‘utility’ – subjecting them to government regulation or punitive government measures is unnecessary and unwarranted.

Last, the right’s misguided, wrongheaded hostility to social media sites is yet another example of conservative hypocrisy, as according to conservative political and fiscal dogma, government should not regulate or interfere with the private sector.

 

[ClaireH]

Big Tech is censoring free speech.
They are labeling people's opinions as "misinformation"
Is Big Tech a Political Oligarchy?
Are they damaging our country?
Do they have an ethical or legal right to censorship of free speech?


Oligarchy (from Greek ὀλιγαρχία (oligarkhía); from ὀλίγος (olígos) 'few', and ἄρχω (arkho) 'to rule or to command')[1][2][3] is a form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people.
Oligarchy - Wikipedia

The question might boil down to ensuring that the anti-trust laws, that were first written more than a century ago, are actually working in the digital age. I'm not a big supporter of governmental oversight boards that waste excessive amounts of money for what are often ludicrous studies and common sense "findings", (often millions spent on lengthy timeframes to study something that could be expedient via using tech/data oriented college students for a MUCH reduced price...go figure government overcharging). So, without adding a layer of governmental oversight, it seems reasonable to create a non-political public sector type of board representing consumer interests, to oversee fair business practices.

What's not fair, imo, is to allow only some users full rights of service and other users half or no rights, but as consumers we're free to chose to avoid biased services altogether.

There is one thing that doesn't leave my mind-the controller over the message controls the world, and in this light social media corps should be held accountable for banning specific views while supporting others. Again, maybe it boils down to a consumer decision to opt-out and with enough people opting-out create a better alternative-which can happen with financial backing.

 

[westwall]

If one doesn’t approve of what FB or Twitter are doing, then don’t participate.

Millions of Americans have no FB or Twitter account and are perfectly capable of having full and comprehensive access to the internet – to entertainment, news, and information.

Social media are not an ‘oligarchy,’ they are not a ‘monopoly,’ and they are not a ‘utility’ – subjecting them to government regulation or punitive government measures is unnecessary and unwarranted.

Last, the right’s misguided, wrongheaded hostility to social media sites is yet another example of conservative hypocrisy, as according to conservative political and fiscal dogma, government should not regulate or interfere with the private sector.

It doesn't work like that anymore. Big Tech has precipitated the collapse of the lame stream media. Thus they are almost the sole source for information. google is particularly vile in how they prevent information they don't approve of from showing up in search results. That's one of the reasons idiots, such as yourself, are so ignorant of science and history.