So, it seems that Big Tech will continue to kick former GOP President Donald J. Trump off the major communications platforms in America.
And Americans are being asked to believe this is because he poses a continuing threat to Democracy.
How gullible do you have to be to buy that explanation?
This week, a Facebook appointed advisory group and YouTube, which is owned by Alphabet, the parent company of Google, ratified the continued suspension of Trump from their platforms. Twitter has permanently banned Trump.
Trump is the pivotal figure in the Republican Party because 75 million Americans voted for him in 2020. Trump is not only being silenced but he is stymied with respect to fundraising.
Trump’s ban from the modern-day public square could have serious consequences for the GOP in the next election, which will decide control of the Congress.
Two Party System?
The United States has a two-party political system but one party, the GOP, has had one hand tied behind its back by three left-leaning billionaires from Silicon Valley, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, and Jack Dorsey of Twitter.
It is debatable in the first place whether Trump incited the Jan. 6 riot.
Moreover, the riot could not have occurred except the Capitol was left utterly defenseless by the Democrats in charge of overseeing the Capitol guards and the Democratic Mayor of the District of Columbia, who oversees the D.C. police.
In any case, authorities have not disclosed any credible evidence that Trump poses any future threat.
To Its Credit…
To its credit, Facebook’s supposedly independent “Oversight” board issued a ruling that was highly critical of Facebook and made it clear that Zuckerberg was calling the shots.
The board said Facebook was wrong to impose an indefinite suspension on Trump without providing clear and consistent rules to justify the decision and asked Facebook to review the matter and make its own decision on the status of Trump’s account within six months.
“In applying a vague, standardless penalty and then referring this case to the Board to resolve, Facebook seeks to avoid its responsibilities,” the ruling states. “The Board declines Facebook’s request and insists that Facebook apply and justify a defined penalty.”
De Facto Public Square
According to Statista, Facebook is the most popular social network with more than 2.6 billion monthly active users. Facebook also owns three other social media platforms, all with over 1 billion monthly active users each , WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram.
A 2019 survey found seven in ten U.S. adults (69%) use Facebook and 73% use YouTube, a video sharing platform.
Compare this to the most widely circulated American newspaper, The New York Times, which has 7.5 million subscribers. And, the most widely watched TV network, CBS, with 7.14 million viewers.
Whether or not you use Facebook, it is now the equivalent of the U.S. town square, the public space where issues and ideas are debated.