Freedom of Speech

In my previous post about Big Tech & Cancel Culture, I showed how Big Tech Apple, Google (Alphabet), Amazon, Facebook (Meta), and Twitter use censorship to eliminate arbitrarily discussion and debate over important issues in which left leading corporate leaders champion.

 

In this post, we will address these questions about Big Tech & Cancel Culture:

• Who does the censoring and on what basis?
• What views do they suppress?
• Which of our freedoms does this censorship threaten?
  • • • • • • • • What are the consequences of this censorship?

Before we go to these matters, here are two latest efforts by Big Tech to embrace the Cancel Culture:

First, YouTube censors a pastor for teaching biblical truth: YouTube Labels John MacArthur’s Sermon Hate Speech After He Said God Made Us ‘Male and Female’

YouTube has censored a Bible-based sermon, labeling it as “hate speech” because it isn’t pro-LGBTQ+.

Standing in the pulpit on Sunday, MacArthur said, “There is no such thing as transgender. You are either XX or XY, that’s it. God made man male and female. That is determined genetically, that is physiology, that is science, that is reality.”

But YouTube removed MacArthur’s sermon from its platform and told conservative commentator Todd Starnes that MacArthur’s video presentation was “hate speech.” “Our team has reviewed your content, and, unfortunately, we think it violates our hate speech policy,” YouTube said.

Second, U.S. Senator and Presidential aspirant Elizabeth Warren uses her political power to ask Amazon to censor a book she dislikes.

Chelsea Greene Publishing is suing Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren for allegedly abusing her political authority to push Amazon to censor their book titled, “The Truth About COVID-19.” The publisher alleges serious First Amendment violations.

On September 7, 2021, Warren sent an official letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy urging him to suppress the bestseller written by Joseph Mercola and Ronnie Cummins in Amazon’s search results for “perpetuating dangerous conspiracies about COVID-19 and false and misleading information about vaccines.”

Chelsea Greene responded by filing a lawsuit accusing Warren of “violating the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by seeking to stop booksellers from selling and/or promoting” their book. The lawsuit cites the Supreme Court case Bantam Books v. Sullivan, which held that government officials violated the First Amendment by “sending letters to booksellers warning the sale of certain books was potentially unlawful.”

The ruling established that even though private companies have the right to censor speech within their platforms, they can’t do it on behalf of a government agent. It is unconstitutional for state officials to pressure a private company to suppress “objectionable” speech.

Who Does the Censoring?

First, here are some things we know:

• Politically, they overwhelmingly lean to the left. 
• Like any other person, they will allow their biases to influence the decisions they make.
• As the above example of calling biblical truth hate speech shows, they are not friendly to traditional / orthodox Christianity.

Next are two examples of those who implement censorship and cancel culture.

First, [Twitter] CEO Parag Agrawal Might Make a Poisonous Platform Worse

Jack Dorsey is leaving his platform in the hands of Parag Agrawal, the company’s chief technology officer, a man who last year said twitter’s “role is not to be bound by the First Amendment, but our role is to serve a healthy public conversation,” and to “focus less on thinking about free speech, but thinking about how the times have changed.”

Second, New Facebook VP Is a Former Obama Staffer Who Promises More Censorship

Roy Austin, vice president of civil rights for Facebook parent company Meta, pledged to crack down on “misinformation” and alleged discriminatory conduct propagated by the social media platform.

“We’re living in a time and a society where there are people who propagate obvious falsehoods,” Austin said in an interview with Axios. “My position is, when those falsehoods injure historically and systemically marginalized communities, that they don’t belong.”

Big Tech & Cancel Culture Fall Guy–Algorithms

First, there are legitimate reasons for Big Tech to use algorithms to screen material posted on their sites.

Now companies face fines for allowing people to post content that breaks certain rules. For example, content that breaches copyright, promotes terrorism, or shows child sexual exploitation. Nobody wants illegal content online. But the problem is accurately identifying unlawful content. If the platforms were going to have to take down such content, they would have needed an army of checkers. That costs money. A lot.

Second, these companies are free to make their own decisions regarding how the algorithms work.

The problem is that online, it is the big tech platforms themselves who have become the governments, the police and the courts, perhaps unwillingly. They make their own rules about what people are allowed to say. And it’s quite tricky and expensive for individuals to turn to the courts when it looks like a tech company has violated their free speech. These companies answer first and foremost to their own shareholders. And their number one concern is maximising profit, not making sure that the internet serves as a place for healthy, well-informed, democratic debate. So when a private company gets to decide what is acceptable and what is not acceptable online, that can cause tensions for a democratic society, and people may be left wondering why Facebook or Twitter accept some things said by others while it has censored them.

Third, someone designs the algorithms. They do not appear out of thin air. Someone must create them and when they do, they infuse their own biases and beliefs into the programs.

As we saw above, those who design and approve the algorithms to use are not friendly to conservative and Christian values. As a result, they cancel much of what they should allow as free speech.

So, What Views Do Big Tech & Cancel Culture Dislike

While I could bring in multiple examples of the censorship of each topic on the following list, I will simply list them here with brief comments.

• Pro-life v. Pro-abortion. Google often rejects ads that are anti-abortion, while allowing those for abortion clinics.
• Traditional marriage. Post that, same-sex marriage violates God’s plan for humanity, and it may cancel you.
• Heterosexual v. Homosexual. If I post the Bible considers the gay lifestyle to be sinful, they may cancel me.
• Trans v. Binary. Amazon banned the book When Harry Became Sally.
• Anti-Critical theory–CRT. Just say that Critical Race Theory is wrong and watch out.
• Call out BLM. Don’t even try to replace it with Blue Lives Matter. Yes, black lives do matter. But BLM, the organization is a Marxist front.
• Oppose the Biden administration, or any left-leaning Democrat Administration and point out their failings. They may cancel you.

Which of our freedoms is under attack?

First, freedom of speech, guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. When Big Tech & Cancel Culture allows only the expression of opinions, ideas and beliefs approved of by those doing the censoring, they are limiting free speech, often arbitrarily. While these actions are not yet widespread, there is clear evidence that instances of the suppression of constitutionally guaranteed speech are becoming more and more common as Big Tech becomes bolder.

Second, freedom of religion comes under attack by Big Tech & Cancel Culture as seen in the recent censoring of John MacArthur by YouTube. The Constitution also guarantees this freedom, yet if my belief that the Bible calls homosexual behavior sin offends those doing the censoring, and I express that belief (even with supporting Bible passages), I risk being suspended or kicked off the platform.

Consequences

When the freedoms of speech and religion come under attack, there are and will be several important consequences.

Hampering the free exchange of ideas and opinions, something crucial to maintaining a civil and democratic society, is harmful. If we may not offer ideas that run counter to the current cultural narrative, we hear only one side. This can lead to:

• One sided commentary quashes the opportunity for opposing sides to be heard.
• The “elite” push false narratives and allow no contrary evidence.
• Big Tech & Cancel Culture suppresses or defines truth (relativism).
• A minority of elites will control the flow of information and skew it to their liking.
• The censors and their circle will have an undue influence in elections and policy making.

All of this is reminiscent of Big Brother’s control if information and thought portrayed in George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel, 1984.

But take heart. We are not at this place yet but are hastening toward such thought and information control by Big Tech & Cancel Culture.

Next: Alternatives platforms to Big Tech.

Recommended Reading

1984 by George Orwell