"CHILLING: Liberals Cheer Censoring Trump"
The Jimmy Dore Show (June 7, 2021)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mekIplOjPzg
Jimmy Dore: "The former President of the United States is going to be banned from Facebook for two more years."
[Shows and reads from screenshot]:
Facebook suspends Trump until 2023, shifts rules for world leaders. - REUTERS
Jimmy Dore: "I wonder what's coming up in 2024 that made them change their minds. Am I right? Come on. Are they going to reinstate all the anti-war pages that they deleted, too. I bet they won't."
The suspension will last at least two years from the date of the initial block and would only be lifted if the risk to public safety has receded, Facebook said on Friday - REUTERS
"Jimmy Dore: "I think censorship is a bigger threat to public safety than anything Donald Trump is going to say on Facebook. That's where I come from. That's where this 'loony leftie' comes from. I know it's crazy to think that censorship is a bad idea no matter where. And by the way, people will say: 'Jimmy, but Facebook is a private company.' So, here's what you say to people who say that. You say:
"I am against censorship no matter where it comes from. I'm against censorship. I am for Freedom of Speech and liberal speech and Freedom of Speech and anti-censorship. The sentiment that came out of the enlightenment. I am against censorhip whether it comes from the State, whether it comes from the Church, or whether it comes from a Corporation."
Jimmy Dore: "That's what you tell those people. And by the way, Facebook and Twitter and YouTube should no longer be private companies. They should be public utilities, just like the telephone is. Because just like thirty years ago you couldn't start a business without a telephone, you can't do a business without Social Media. And you can't be a prominent person in America without a telephone or without Social Media. So those should now be considered public utlilities. That's another thing you tell people who say stupid shit like 'censorship is good.' This is what I used to tell The Young Turks over and over. They don't hear me because Cenk Uygur is a right-wing, union-busting, warmonger. And he hires women who believe that, too."
[shows and reads from Reuters screenshot]
This new timeline denies Republican Trump a major social media megaphone ahead of the November 2022 congressional elections.
However, it means he may be able to return to Facebook well before the next presidential election in 2024 - REUTERS
[2:30] Jimmy Dore: "They're shifting the political debate and they're admitting it. So, Facebook is admitting that they're controlling the political narrative in the debate. They're admitting that you can't get your message out without them. They're admitting that."
[shows and reads from Reuters screenshot]
Trump has been permanently banned by Twitter and remains suspended by Alphabet's (Google) YouTube. - REUTERS
Jimmy Dore: "YouTube is owned by Google who is owned by Alphabet. OK. And Trump remains permanently banned on those. Does that make you feel comfortable that the leader of a major political party isn't allowed on what should be a public utility? That should scare you."
[shows and reads from Reuters screenshot]
Facebook's oversight board, an independent group funded by the company who rule on a small slice of controversial content decisions, in May upheld the company's unprecedented block on Trump. - REUTERS
[3:37] Jimmy Dore: "An independent group funded by the company is not an independent group. That's a group who works for Facebook. Funded by Facebook? They're an 'independent' group that gets all their money from Jeff Zuckerberg -- or Mark Zuckerberg. How is that independent? This is amazing."
[4:13] Stef Zamorano: "Random people get to just do this. Random people get to make the decision that the President of the United States can be censored."
Jimmy Dore: "Nameless, faceless people."
[shows and reads from Reuters screenshot]
Trump said "Next time I'm in the White House there will be no more dinners, at his request, with Mark Zuckerberg and his wife. It will be all business!"
Jimmy Dore: "It's really a big club, folks. Isn't it? See? They've been having dinner together at the White House. Just friendly dinner. They're just hanging out. A couple of billionaires just hanging out at the White House. Talking about how to censor people. How to control the flow of information to control a culture and a political process."
[shows and reads from Reuters screenshot]
Whit House spokeswoman Jen Psaki, speaking to reporters, said of Facebook's decision on Trump that it felt "pretty unlikely that the zebra is going to change his stripes over the next two years, we'll see." - REUTERS
[5:07] Jimmy Dore: "So, these are just people casually talking about taking people's freedom of speech away. 'Ah, we'll see.' Freedom of Speech is a priviledge in America, not a right. You have to be on good behavior and then you get Freedom of Speech. And then the First Amendment applies to you. If this doesn't scare the shit out of you, that this is just so casually [done] This is how it is. We're living in a world of censorship. And it's being pushed on us by 'liberal' journalists. Certainly The Young Turks when I was there, an example of the kind of people who push for this kind of censorship. They push for all censorship"
[shows and reads from Reuters screenshot]
In a major reversal, Facebook said it was "removing the presumption we announced in 2019 that speech from politicians is inherently of public interest. - REUTERS
[6:06] Jimmy Dore: "Now, it's not anymore. So, if the former President has something to say, it's so important that we have to ban it, but not important enough to share it with you. So, that's a bullshit statement [Reuters] So, inherently that statement is contradictory. It's so important we have to ban it. But not important enough to share it with you. Why don't you let people decide if what Trump is tweeting is worthwhile or not? You don't trust the American people? No! They need a daddy to keep certain people's ideas away from them [emphasis added]. And we all know that 'daddy' is the Atlantic Council and the Military Industrial Complex and Wall Street [emphasis added]. That's who's doing this, by the way. So, when you see Mark Zuckerberg or when you see Jack at Twitter banning someone, they're doing that at the behest of the Military Industrial Complex and Wall Street and nobody else."
[shows and reads from Reuters screenshot]
The company said it now would weigh violative content from politicians against the potential risk of harm in the same way it does for all users.
It will also use a "newsworthiness" exemption. -- REUTERS
[7:31] Jimmy Dore: "So they're just saying 'We will do whatever we want whenever we want. We're going to ban some people sometimes and other people, we're not. We're not going to ban the people we like, and we're not going to ban the people caught lying at the behest of the establishment. Those people are OK.' [emphasis added]. That's what this says. So, when Dr Fauci gets caught lying, are you going to take down his Facebook page? No, because that's newsworthiness. We've got to keep him up. That's what this means."
[shows and reads from Reuters screenshot]
However, a Facebook spokesman confirmed politicians' posts will remain exempt from third-party fact-checking. - REUTERS
[8:11] Jimmy Dore: What do you think what you're doing is? Facebook is the third-party fact-checker. You're the person in between the person posting something and the person reading something. You're that third party. And, by the way, they're not going to do this, they're not going to fact-check politicians' posts. Do you know why? Because they'd have to ban every politician on Facebook. That's why. Guess who's not for this?"
[shows and reads from POLITICO screenshot]
Bernie isn't a fan of Twitter's Trump ban
"I don't feel comfortable about it," Sanders said. - POLITICO
Bernie Sanders is not for this. What? You mean the farthest lefty guy in the Senate? He must be a Putin puppet. Is he working for Russia? That's what Cenk Uygurat of The Young Turks would say. I'll bet that's what they're saying. In other countries they understand how giving Big Tech too much power is a bad thing. but not in America."
[shows and reads from New York Times screenshot]
BERNIE SANDERS: This is a bad-news guy [JD - meaning Donald Trump]. But if you're asking me, do I feel particularly comfortable that the then-president of the United States could not express his views on Twitter? I don't feel comfortable about that. - The New York Times
"And Bernie's right. Because Bernie's old enough to remember when lefties were the targets for censorship. They still are. Believe me, if you were a real lefty they would censor you. Just like they tried to censor us when we told the truth about the Iowa [Democratic Party primary], that the DNC was messing with that. And that turned out to be true. There was an investigation and what we reported was true. Facebook said that was fake news. They flagged our report. Turned out it was true. They never went back and apologized. They never went back and took away their flag. So, believe me, it's the unpopular speech that is going to get banned from Twitter and Facebook [emphasis added]."
[10:36] ">What is the point of the First Amendment? To protect unpopular speech. Popular speech doesn't need protection [emphasis added]."
[shows and reads from Bloomberg screenshot]
Germany and France Oppose Trump's Twitter Exile
Chancellor Merkel calls Trump's ban on Twitter 'problematic'
France's Beaune says private actors shouldn't have such power
"Isn't that weird? Germany and France. Because other countries get it. You shouldn't let unidentified Silicon Valley Oligarchs decide who gets to have free speech in The United States. I agree."
[shows and reads from Reuters screenshot]
On Friday, the Nigerian government said it had indefinitely suspended Twitter's activities in the country, two days after the company removed a post from Nigeria's President that threatened to punish regional secessionists. - REUTERS
[11:41] Jimmy Dore: "So Twitter is censoring the President of Nigeria. And then the President of Nigeria says: 'Twitter, you are no longer allowed in Nigeria.' Now, two wrongs don't make a right. I'm not for them banning Twitter."
[shows and reads from Twitter screenshot]
Twitter Public Policy
@Policy
We are deeply concerned by the blocking of Twitter in Nigeria. Access to the free and #Openinternet is an essential human right in modern society.
We will work to restor access for all those in Nigeria who rely on Twitter to communicate and connect with the world. #Keepit On.
Jimmy Dore: "Then maybe stop censoring people on your platform. Especially the President of Nigeria. Well, if it is [a human right] then you would stop banning people. If it's a right. Because if it's a right, [then] you've got to go to court to take that person's right away [emphasis added]. But you're not treating like a right. You're treating it like a privilege.
[12:55] "So they're making the anti-censorship point: that using an open and free Internet -- meaning Twitter and Facebook and YouTube -- is an essential human right in modern society. Which means that this 'private company' defense is bullshit. They're undermining their own 'private company' defense. That's what that does. They're saying it's not a privilege. It's a right. That's Twitter saying that. Not Jimmy Dore. Not [Syrian] President Assad. So Cenk Uygur gets this straight. It's Twitter saying that. Pro-censorship The Young Turks, just so you know, Twitter is saying it's a right. Now, feel free to ignore it."
[shows and reads from Twitter screenshot]
Glenn Greenwald
@ggreenwald
The entire democratic world seems to have no trouble seeing how menacing it is for democracy to have our political discourse policed by Silicon Valley monopolists, while pressured by political parties.
Only US liberals & their journalists can't see it. They're pro-censorship.
[14:08] Jimmy Dore: "The rest of the world is against Twitter censoring and Facebook censoring. The only people who are for it are the shitlibs in the United States. People like The Young Turks, The Intercept, MSNBC, Jake Tapper, CNN. Those are the people who are for censorship. You want to be like Cenk Uygur and The Young Turks? Do you want to have rock legends call you out for being a status quo imperialist? Because that's what you are."
"The rest of the world knows this is a bad idea. Germany. France. Nigeria. But in the United States we're such fucking lemmings we don't deserve liberty and freedom in the United States. Because more than half the country is screaming for censorship. And that's what makes you a shit-lib. If you want to know what is a shit-lib, it's someone who's for censorship [emphasis added]. Someone who doesn't understand this. Bernie Sanders understands this. Germany understands this. France understands it. I understand it."