As many a conservative, libertarian – or pretty much anyone who doesn’t toe the progressive left’s line – already knows, the unvarnished truth is a violation of community standards across social media. Many, in fact, have worn their Twitter bans or time in “Facebook jail” as a badge of honor – a sure sign that the person so persecuted is getting too close to the truth. Now another dons the badge: James O’Keefe of Project Veritas. He recently exposed a plot by the least trusted name in news to ensure Donald Trump wasn’t re-elected. Sure enough, revealing the duplicity of CNN’s fake news was a violation of Twitter’s community standards – though, of course, that isn’t the reason they gave – and O’Keefe was given the boot. At least there’s no hiding the bias anymore. When the social media machine attacks, you know you’re on the right track.
The Big Reveal
As Liberty Nation’s Kelli Ballard wrote: “the ‘most trusted name in news’ has lost a lot of its clout in recent years.” The latest nail in the network’s coffin is a video from Project Veritas in which CNN technical director Charlie Chester explained how their coverage of Trump was pure propaganda aimed at keeping the president from winning re-election.
Wouldn’t you know such a video is a violation of Twitter’s community standards? According to the big blue bird, James O’Keefe was permanently suspended from the platform for “operating fake accounts” and trying to “artificially amplify or disrupt conversations through the use of multiple accounts.” Generally, Twitter does allow folks to have multiple accounts – usually a professional one and a personal one – but surely everyone knows by now how foolish it is to expect consistent and fair behavior from the social justice crowd that runs most of the big social media platforms.
O’Keefe and his supporters, of course, say the suspension was handed down because of the recent CNN exposé. “Just months after suspending both Project Veritas and Project Veritas Action, Twitter has just pulled the plug on James’ account with nearly 1,000,000 followers,” the Project Veritas team declared in an email. “Clearly, Jack Dorsey is running interference for his buddies in the Mainstream Media.”
Freedom, Stifled
[memberzone align=”left”]“Today, Twitter undeniably tarnished the First Amendment and did the unthinkable.” The PV team are calling on supporters to flood Twitter with #FreeJamesOKeefe, and O’Keefe revealed to Forbes that he intends to sue for defamation. “Section 230 may have protected them before, but it will not protect them from me,” he said.
Did Twitter defame O’Keefe? Perhaps. Did they betray the spirit of free speech by de-platforming him? Absolutely. But did they “tarnish” the First Amendment, or do “the unthinkable”? In a word – no. The First Amendment initially only restricted the U.S. Congress. It was later incorporated to apply to all governments – but not individuals or businesses. Twitter can’t violate anyone’s First Amendment rights because Twitter isn’t a government entity – at least not yet. Though certain past Supreme Court rulings might tell a different story. The First Amendment states:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
The Unthinkable
As for the unthinkable, what’s so unthinkable about it? Twitter and their left-wing pals across the internet have been banning conservatives and libertarians one after the other – and often for the slightest of things. They’ve become so terrified that someone might believe what these dissenters say that they can’t risk allowing them to be heard.
From YouTube demonetizing content that supports the Second Amendment and all the big players suspending people for spreading truth about Black Lives Matters, Joe Biden, the Democrats in general, or the COVID pandemic, social media’s iron-fisted control over the narrative is plain to see; they’re just as bad as the left-wing “traditional” media. At this point, the unthinkable would be if one of these big Silicon Valley tech companies full of progressives defended and supported individual liberty.
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Read more from James Fite.
