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TheSlipperySlopeArrives_BigTechCensorshipThreatensOurFreedoms_Opinion.pdf
2/5/2021 The Slippery Slope Arrives: Big Tech Censorship Threatens Our Freedoms | Opinion
https://www.newsweek.com/slippery-slope-arrives-big-tech-censorship-threatens-our-freedoms-opinion-1560667 1/21
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OPINION
The Slippery Slope Arrives: Big Tech Censorship Threatens Our Freedoms | Opinion
JONATHAN TOBIN , EDITOR IN CHIEF, JNS.ORG ON 1/13/21 AT 7:30 AM EST
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2/5/2021 The Slippery Slope Arrives: Big Tech Censorship Threatens Our Freedoms | Opinion
https://www.newsweek.com/slippery-slope-arrives-big-tech-censorship-threatens-our-freedoms-opinion-1560667 2/21
E
O P I N I O N T W IT T E R FAC E B O O K A M A ZO N W E B S E R V I C E S A P P L E
ven before President Donald Trump's appalling conduct last week, there
was already a constituency growing for banning him from social media
and anything else anyone could think of. But by challenging Congress' ritual
acceptance of the Electoral College results with a rally where his false claims and
incendiary rhetoric egged the crowd to march on the U.S. Capitol, where many
morphed into a violent mob, Trump has turned himself into the sort of pariah few
beyond his most faithful supporters will defend.
Yet the reaction to the Capitol riot has gone far beyond mere national outrage.
The post-riot willingness of the Big Tech giants to collude in an effort to shut down
the communicative ability of the president and his backers—an ostensible effort to
defend democracy—has actually created a far greater threat to free speech and
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2/5/2021 The Slippery Slope Arrives: Big Tech Censorship Threatens Our Freedoms | Opinion
https://www.newsweek.com/slippery-slope-arrives-big-tech-censorship-threatens-our-freedoms-opinion-1560667 3/21
democratic discourse than anything Trump did in his four years in office. While
many feared Trump's authoritarian instincts, the response to the riot has enabled
Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter's Jack Dorsey and Amazon's Jeff Bezos to
become the arbiters of what may or may not be said in the nation's virtual public
square in a way that any would-be American dictator would envy.
Trump's disastrous decision to try and pressure Georgia's secretary of state to
effectively falsify the presidential vote in that state (which played a key role in the
loss of the two Senate run-off elections there) and his role in fomenting the
Capitol riot were both indefensible—as are many of the tweets he's sent out since
losing the 2020 presidential election, in which he has relentlessly hyped
unsubstantiated claims of massive fraud.
So when, after a growing chorus of demands to"stop enabling [Trump's]
monstrous behavior" from liberal celebrities like Michelle Obama, Twitter and then
Facebook decided to ban or suspend his accounts, the president's sundry
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2/5/2021 The Slippery Slope Arrives: Big Tech Censorship Threatens Our Freedoms | Opinion
https://www.newsweek.com/slippery-slope-arrives-big-tech-censorship-threatens-our-freedoms-opinion-1560667 4/21
opponents cheered. Twitter also began locking out other people—like Fox News
commentator and radio host Dan Bongino—who used their accounts to retweet
the president's somewhat equivocal post-riot messages, which continued to claim
that the election won by Biden was really a "landslide" for Trump that was stolen
from him. Other figures closely associated with Trump, like former National
Security Advisor Michael Flynn and discredited attorney Sidney Powell, were also
kicked off the social media platform.
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Yet the Big Tech crackdown didn't stop there. Google Play and Apple kicked
Parler, a social media company that bills itself as a free speech safe zone and a
would-be competitor for Twitter, off its ubiquitous app stores because Parler had
not shut down certain comments from its users. Things got worse for Parler when
Amazon Web Services—which controls about half of all available public cloud
infrastructure—announced that it would boot the site off its hosting service. In
order to remain open, Parler had been told that it must start moderating the posts
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2/5/2021 The Slippery Slope Arrives: Big Tech Censorship Threatens Our Freedoms | Opinion
https://www.newsweek.com/slippery-slope-arrives-big-tech-censorship-threatens-our-freedoms-opinion-1560667 5/21
published on its site and "remove all objectionable material." When it refused to
do so, Amazon blacked out the site, which is currently down and may remain so
indefinitely, as it tries to find a new provider unafraid of risking the displeasure of
industry giants.
Thus, in a few days, not only has Trump lost access to the platform that served as
his direct line to more than 80 million followers, Twitter, but his supporters are
similarly being silenced by having their accounts locked and/or their preferred
Twitter alternative de-platformed.
Those doing the silencing don't think there is any irony in their justifying this sort
of censorship in the name of democracy. As Mrs. Obama laid out in her
manifesto, Trump supporters are not merely being shamed by linkage to the
criminal actions of a mob, but are being treated as accessories to an actual
"insurrection."
As journalist Glenn Greenwald presciently pointed out, the sense of outrage on
the part of almost all Americans about what happened at the Capitol is being used
by social media companies and the liberal politicians cheering them on to justify
the sort of overreaction that could be compared to the restrictions on civil liberties
that were enacted by the George W. Bush administration in the wake of the 9/11
attacks. As odious as the Capitol riot was and as irresponsible as Trump's
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2/5/2021 The Slippery Slope Arrives: Big Tech Censorship Threatens Our Freedoms | Opinion
https://www.newsweek.com/slippery-slope-arrives-big-tech-censorship-threatens-our-freedoms-opinion-1560667 6/21
language and actions have been, his supporters are now being treated as if they
are the moral equivalent of a 74-million-strong al-Qaeda cell.
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The conspiracy theories being circulated about the election are appalling—as was
the willingness of Trump and his most devoted followers to try to interfere with the
peaceful transfer of power by seeking to prevent certification of the Electoral
College results. But the response from Big Tech illustrates that fears about these
companies using their unique power to shut down content they disapprove of is
no longer one about a mere "slippery slope" to censorship. That censorship is
now at our doorstep.
Parler was banned by Apple, Google Play and Amazon Web Services
HOLLIE ADAMS/GETTY IMAGES
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2/5/2021 The Slippery Slope Arrives: Big Tech Censorship Threatens Our Freedoms | Opinion
https://www.newsweek.com/slippery-slope-arrives-big-tech-censorship-threatens-our-freedoms-opinion-1560667 7/21
With the Big Tech giants joining together to censor Trump and those supporting
him, we have arrived at a point where a handful of billionaires who control the
modern information superhighway are not merely thinking about censorship—they
are actively engaged in it. What's more, they are doing it with the implicit support
of the incoming Biden-Harris administration and its supporters.
In recent years, worries about the growing influence of fringe groups and
conspiracy theorists have led many to believe that social media platforms must
start to censor users, lest they become accomplices to hate-mongers.
At first, that took the form of efforts to force Facebook and Twitter to shut down
neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers, with people like actor and comedian Sacha
Baron Cohen tearing into Facebook's Zuckerberg for his refusal to more
aggressively regulate content on his site. But now that the social media
companies have complied with those demands, predictions that censorship
wouldn't stop with the Nazis are being vindicated.
As private companies, Twitter, Facebook, Google (which has sought to
demonetize conservative sites like The Federalist) and Amazon can do what they
want. They are not the government, which means they are within their rights in
deciding to limit discourse on their sites.
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2/5/2021 The Slippery Slope Arrives: Big Tech Censorship Threatens Our Freedoms | Opinion
https://www.newsweek.com/slippery-slope-arrives-big-tech-censorship-threatens-our-freedoms-opinion-1560667 8/21
It's not a violation of anyone's constitutional rights to be denied, say, the
opportunity to have an op-ed published in The New York Times or The
Washington Post. The same applies when a book publishing company like Simon
& Schuster decides to rescind a decision to put out a book, as Sen. Josh Hawley
(R-MO) learned this past week when that firm chose not to be associated with
someone who supported Trump's effort to protest the Electoral College vote.
But the Big Tech companies are in a very different position. Amazon and Google
possess a virtual monopoly over the Internet. With more than three billion global
users, Facebook is the landlord for America's national public square—and the
same is true, to a lesser extent, for Twitter. Facebook and Twitter have achieved
this kind of dominance while acting as traditional publishers but nonetheless
possessing the kind of immunity from liability that any newspaper or magazine
couldn't dream of: Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act has
exempted them from being held accountable for what goes up on their platforms.
Treating them as internet bulletin boards, rather than publishers, has enabled
them to dominate communications in a way no publication or broadcast outlet has
ever done before. This despite the fact Facebook and Twitter have actively
embraced the usual prerogative of publishers by censoring material they find
objectionable.
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2/5/2021 The Slippery Slope Arrives: Big Tech Censorship Threatens Our Freedoms | Opinion
https://www.newsweek.com/slippery-slope-arrives-big-tech-censorship-threatens-our-freedoms-opinion-1560667 9/21
Big Tech's influence on the incoming Biden administration is such that it is unlikely
their power will be diminished in any serious way. In this way, silencing Trump and
his supporters not only fits with the political prejudices of the social media
oligarchs that control the flow of information, but is also clearly good for business.
The bans on Trump and his supporters are being treated as no different from
efforts to block hate groups. But the problem is that Big Tech's principles are
wildly inconsistent. Wild and unproven claims about election fraud are troubling,
but are they really worse than the way Twitter allows China's Communist
government to spread lies and propaganda—or Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei to use his account to issue death threats against dissidents and the
state of Israel, while at the same time stopping the people living under that
Islamist tyranny from freely expressing their own opinions? While Twitter has
always defended giving foreign dictators the right to use Twitter as a matter of
defending freedom of information and readers' right to know important
information, Dorsey isn't prepared to extend that same courtesy to Trump. Nor is
there any evidence that threats against Republican lawmakers are resulting in
Twitter bans.
As we saw during the election campaign, when the social media companies
stepped in to protect Joe Biden by using their power to silence a New York Post
story about his son Hunter's corrupt foreign business connections, the ability of
these Silicon Valley oligarchs to impact discourse is neither disinterested nor
benign. And whatever anyone thinks of Trump, or how much anyone would like
him to go away and give the country some peace, the notion that Zuckerberg,
Dorsey and Bezos should be allowed to silence him and any potential competitor
that might allow him a platform is completely antithetical to any idea of a working
democracy or a free market of ideas.
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2/5/2021 The Slippery Slope Arrives: Big Tech Censorship Threatens Our Freedoms | Opinion
https://www.newsweek.com/slippery-slope-arrives-big-tech-censorship-threatens-our-freedoms-opinion-1560667 10/21
As much as a healthy distrust of government interference in private businesses is
generally well founded, the power of these Big Tech companies to control public
discourse is a clear and present danger—not just to those with whom their
owners disagree, but to everyone who values basic free speech ideals.
Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of JNS.org, a senior contributor to The
Federalist and a columnist for the New York Post. Follow him on Twitter:
@jonathans_tobin.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
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J Jazzphoto 14 January, 2021
As a Prof. Musician of 40 years that performed 11 years ago in Beijing, I watched real state controlled Propaganda in my hotel room on their TV. What I'm witnessing right now from not
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2/5/2021 The Slippery Slope Arrives: Big Tech Censorship Threatens Our Freedoms | Opinion
https://www.newsweek.com/slippery-slope-arrives-big-tech-censorship-threatens-our-freedoms-opinion-1560667 15/21
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only Zuckeberg, Dorsey, Bezos and Google too, but also some networks is eerily very similar...This is not good. Not good at all...
Reply 8
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J jimmyjammer 13 January, 2021
Someone is going to have to reel in the Big Tech companies - yes, they are a private business and can do what they want - virtually fully protected by the government (not the constitution). Everybody knows, as a fact, they are in the pockets of liberal politicians. On the one hand, I understand them doing some things (like censoring hate speech on their platform/apps), but to shut down Parlor and make subjective decisions on who gets to be in business and who doesn't is at best, the worst thing that can happen to American democracy. We are not going down a slipper slope as the author noted, we are there. I can guarantee you they (big tech) are still allowing hate speech by fringe groups on the left. If you were a Trump supporter, you will have no voice even if the supporters who were thugs have nothing to do with the 99% of the people who voted for Trump, so in essence you punish all by the deeds of the very few. This will eventually come back to either bite the big tech companies and their democrat allies, if the constitution means anything at all, or will lead to the complete erosion of any hope for anything free and fair to happen. The American people are fed up with what our modern politics have turned into - there is enough pathetic politicians on both sides. They only care about their power, not the American people. We better smarten up, before we slide too far down the slippery slope (and yes, it can get worse, unless something is done for "we the people").
Reply 12 5
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O OrangeMustache 13 January, 2021
"But the Big Tech companies are in a very di�erent position. Amazon and Google possess a virtual monopoly over the Internet. " is false. Any organization the size of parler can host its own servers on the internet, it is easy, high schools can do it with free software. These are just capitalist companies doing what is best for their shareholders. They do not want the legal exposure of Trump's posts.
Reply 7 16
G GreenProcessor 13 January, 2021
You know that censorship is when the Government blocks free speech, Private business has never been required to get public approval for Business decisions, that's where the strike, unions and boycotts come into play. If you don't like the way a business operates don't support
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2/5/2021 The Slippery Slope Arrives: Big Tech Censorship Threatens Our Freedoms | Opinion
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it, they have enough laws and regulations to follow now without you claiming your Constitutional rights have been violated.
Reply 3 8
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A ACAB 13 January, 2021
Protip: when your headline is literally the name of a logical fallacy, it's time to rethink things.
Reply 6 1
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TR The Clash Rule! 15 January, 2021
I am so sick and tired of the double standard that the Left get away with. No problem when BLM & ANTIFA caused havoc all summer in the big cities. Looting, rioting, burning, violence incl murder. Molotov cocktails. So many small businesses owned by minorities burnt to the ground. The MSM and high pro�le Democrats encouraged it and the Mayors let it happen. It was ok when BLM "stormed" the Capital Building a few years ago. And it's so obvious that it was mostly ANTIFA instigators dressed in MAGA hats, etc. anyways. Funny how such an important institution was so low on security (esp knowing of a massive protest planned) and how the "cops" opened the gate to let them in. Trump NEVER incited a riot. If anything, he's supported Law & Order since Day One. When are people going to learn that the MSM is nothing but a propaganda arm for the Left and the CCP. They can censor Hunter Biden's laptop with proof of corruption with China & the Ukraine. Not to mention his very disturbing pedophilia issues. I don't care what side of the aisle you are on...censorship is wrong. And who gets to decide what is "hate speech" or "disinformation." Very subjective. And by the way, a 5 year old could see the massive election fraud. Trump's rallies averaged 25,000-40,000 people. Biden maybe 30. Can't blame Covid either because the one Trump parade of vehicles was 97 miles long. Trump's Twitter following was 88.6 million while Biden's is 22.4 million. But yeah...Biden won.
Reply 2
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L lr7660 13 January, 2021
Talk about not being able to see the forest for the trees! Were you asleep when the Capitol was attacked by your right wing cohorts? Do you realize that twitter and facebook are just entertainment venues like the national enquirer? Do you believe these bans prevent your alt right opinions from �nding other media to publish- (that can’t be true as you are published here) Your movement does not need twitter nor facebook. The question is does the United States and the world really need exposure to right wing poison.
Reply 5 12
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R RedBowtie 13 January, 2021
Hilarious. Americans have a right to twitter, but not health care.
Reply 4 6
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B b 13 January, 2021
I got thrown out of a bar! Before you know it, everyone will be thrown out of the bar, and it'll be literally Nazi Germany!
Reply 8 4
Joe Harkins 15 January, 2021
I demand that Newsweek publish anything I wish. If you do not, you are violating my free speech. Oh, wait . . . you mean you are a private business like Twitter and Facebook and have the absolute right to decide what is published on your private medium? But, but, but
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