Q&A of the Day – Part 2 Censorship. The revolution of 2021 is online.
Bottom Line: No more principal in our society is more important than freedom of expression. With the actions taken by Amazon to shutdown Parler’s servers, Apple & Google to remove the app from their stores and Twitter to permanently ban the President of the United States from communicating with the American people, among other acts of censorship over the years – this moment in American history is an important one. This moment in time really is different. Clearly these tech execs feel emboldened by the incoming Biden administration along with Democrats completely controlling Congress. It’s now sadly safe to say that if you voted for Democrats for federal office this November, you voted for censorship. It’s a warning many of us have echoed for years with the examples we’ve witnessed but now it’s here. So...
How to combat censorship? The most effectual way to exact change at Amazon, Apple, Google, Twitter, etc. is to realize they are all publicly traded companies which are accountable to their board of directors and shareholders. It's to be determined what will happen in our legal system, however they're all held to account by their shareholders. I've never supported boycotts, but I do support voting with my own choices. Imagine for a moment if Amazon, Google, Twitter & the rest suddenly dropped even a quarter of their domestic customer base. What do you think investors would say? I'll not calling for a boycott, however if you'd like to make a difference you may consider doing what I've done as a start.
1. I deleted all my Google accounts & deleted Chrome from all computers (other browser and search options are better than you might think).
2. I'll not purchase anything from Amazon. Period.
3. I'm still debating what to do with my Twitter and Facebook accounts but for now they're being used to promote Parler.
Apple's especially complicated for me... There’s not a good action item here yet for me but you get the idea. For those who want to talk in terms of action and revolutionary thoughts. Understand violence isn’t the answer, because this isn’t a physical battle. It’s all happening online. This is a time for choosing because censorship really is that big of a deal. If you don’t stand for freedom of expression...What do you stand for?
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