Big Tech Censorship is Dangerous , In Time Of Pandemics – The Jewish Voice

ByAshley Rae Goldenberg (American Greatness)

Modern reliance on technology has never been more evident than now. During the COVID-19 pandemic, modern technological advances have gone from conveniences to life-saving resources.

But not for everyone.

For people banned from tech platforms, the potential emergency resources these platforms provide are out of reach. Banned from Twitter? Reduced access to breaking news.Banned from Uber Eats? Good luck getting food while maintaining social distancing recommendations.Banned from PayPal,Venmo, orGoFundMe? Sending, receiving, and raising money for emergencies becomes a lot harder. Banned fromFacebook? Find another way to connect with loved ones during this difficult time. This is the reality for people whose political speech runs afoul of tech censors or who have been targeted by powerful groups for having the wrong political beliefs.

Groups like theSPLC,Color of Change,SumofUs, andSleeping Giantsgleefully try to get their political opponents banned from social media and cut off from payment processors. Tech companies arepressuredbyadvocacy organizationsandagenda-driven journalists.

When trying to get a wrongthinker kicked off social media or cut off from funding sources, organizations, journalists, and companies claim theyre helping people take a moral stand against bigotry. When Laura Loomer was banned from PayPal, the company toldNewsweek: Our decision and actions are values-based, not political.

However, the people pushing these bans, and enacting them, have trouble explaining exactly how it is moral to limit some peoples access to food because their opinions fall outside the mainstream. How is it moral to cut people off from their support systemsfrom their friends, families, and neighborsbecause they say things some people find offensive? How is it moral to take away peoples ability to pay their bills because their political views are on the fringe of current accepted norms?

In reality, these moves are meant to silence and punish politically unpopular opinions. This precedent creates a chilling effect on free speech. People have a right to say controversial, offensive, and even hateful things. American companies should realize now, more than ever, that they should not suppress the free exchange of thoughts and feelings, nor the exchange of resources, for expressing constitutionally protected speech.

Theres no question these are not normal times, but neither are the companies doing the banning merely private companies.

At a press conference, President Trump promoteda Google websiteto determine whether people should seek medical treatment for coronavirus. The website was created by Verily, a sister company to Google, under the umbrella of Alphabetbut a Googlelog inis apparently required. Meanwhile, Googlefires engineersover their opinions,bans peoplefrom YouTube, refuses to allowcertain adsto run, and, in extreme instances, and bansentire Google accounts. The White House has alsopartnered with Appleto create an app to track coronavirus information. At the same time,Apple bans appsfrom their app store,removes controversial podcasts, andblocks consumersfrom viewing chat messages that might contain offensive information.

Twitter, a platform relied on for breaking information and used by government officials and government services,removed a tweetfromThe Federalistafter it sharedan opinion pieceabout the best way to handle the coronavirus epidemic. Twitter alsoremoved tweetsby Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani for allegedly violating Twittersnew rulesabout discussing the coronavirus outbreak.

In January, remember, the World Health Organizationposted on Twitterthat China found no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus. That has been proven to be an utter lie, but the tweet still remains online. So do tweets claiming the virus originated inthe United Statesand blamingAmerican militaryfor spreading the virus to China.

The coronavirus epidemic is causing people across the world to reevaluate their principles. Perhaps its time to rethink the role large companies play in policing perfectly legalalthough sometimes controversialspeech. And perhaps its time for American companies to uphold the spirit of the First Amendment, especially when lives are at stake.

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Big Tech Censorship is Dangerous , In Time Of Pandemics - The Jewish Voice