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ACLU Counsel Warns of 'Unchecked Power' of Twitter, Facebook

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Re: ACLU Counsel Warns of 'Unchecked Power' of Twitter, Facebook

#11

Post by michaelsbradley »

beezle wrote: post #7
zadokshi wrote: post #4

I don’t care what side your politics are. When corporations can so easily control the voice of the elected leader of a country (one who has genuine legitimate support or about half of the country), I become very scared for the future. Corporations should not have more power than the elected officials.

There is nothing to prevent any politician from doing what was done before Twitter/FB - holding a press conference and inviting the press/TV. Or putting out public statements which are widely disseminated over news/pr wires.

That's a good point.

I'm a little surprised a blog hasn't already sprung up on whitehouse.gov.

Re: ACLU Counsel Warns of 'Unchecked Power' of Twitter, Facebook

#12

Post by cblconfederate »

> decision to suspend Trump from social media could set a precedent for big tech companies to silence less privileged voices.

They have it backwards: After years of progressively suspending increasingly important voices, they believe there is nothing they can't control, and every escalation means worse outcomes for those lower in the pecking order.

Plus compaines aren't abstract objects so it matters who the individual persons who make these decisions are.

Re: ACLU Counsel Warns of 'Unchecked Power' of Twitter, Facebook

#13

Post by ergocoder »

zadokshi wrote: post #4

I don’t care what side your politics are. When corporations can so easily control the voice of the elected leader of a country (one who has genuine legitimate support or about half of the country), I become very scared for the future. Corporations should not have more power than the elected officials.

Not sure why you are downvoted. You raised a legit point.

Facebook and Twitter are important communication channels for the public.

It's dangerous that they can ban any elected official without going through any single legal process. No judge. No jury.

What we are doing here is a screaming match. Who can scream at Facebook/Twitter the loudest probably wins. This is going to turn into threats on FB/Twitter execs very quickly. You'll see.

Why can't we have a due process for banning elected officials?

Re: ACLU Counsel Warns of 'Unchecked Power' of Twitter, Facebook

#14

Post by yoav »

michaelsbradley wrote: post #11
beezle wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is nothing to prevent any politician from doing what was done before Twitter/FB - holding a press conference and inviting the press/TV. Or putting out public statements which are widely disseminated over news/pr wires.

That's a good point. I'm a little surprised a blog hasn't already sprung up on whitehouse.gov.

There’s literally no one left in the room with him who’s able or willing to suggest or execute on this idea.

Re: ACLU Counsel Warns of 'Unchecked Power' of Twitter, Facebook

#16

Post by neither_color »

zadokshi wrote: post #4

I don’t care what side your politics are. When corporations can so easily control the voice of the elected leader of a country (one who has genuine legitimate support or about half of the country), I become very scared for the future. Corporations should not have more power than the elected officials.

I wont be surprised if all other world leaders, authoritarian or not, are looking for alternative platforms now, just for the sake of their own sovereignty.

Re: ACLU Counsel Warns of 'Unchecked Power' of Twitter, Facebook

#17

Post by yoav »

zadokshi wrote: post #4

I don’t care what side your politics are. When corporations can so easily control the voice of the elected leader of a country (one who has genuine legitimate support or about half of the country), I become very scared for the future. Corporations should not have more power than the elected officials.

When the elected leader of a country can so easily try to overthrow that very same democracy with a violent insurrection the least of the consequences they should face is not being able to incite more violence on someone else’s private property. No matter how popular a hangout spot that private property.

Re: ACLU Counsel Warns of 'Unchecked Power' of Twitter, Facebook

#18

Post by bebopcowboy »

ergocoder wrote: post #13
zadokshi wrote: post #4

I don’t care what side your politics are. When corporations can so easily control the voice of the elected leader of a country (one who has genuine legitimate support or about half of the country), I become very scared for the future. Corporations should not have more power than the elected officials.

Not sure why you are downvoted. You raised a legit point. Facebook and Twitter are important communication channels for the public. It's dangerous that they can ban any elected official without going through any single legal process. No judge. No jury. What we are doing here is a screaming match. Who can scream at Facebook/Twitter the loudest probably wins. This is going to turn into threats on FB/Twitter execs very…

He’s downvoted because this website’s users and it’s mod team are employed by the companies that the ACLU is condemning.

Re: ACLU Counsel Warns of 'Unchecked Power' of Twitter, Facebook

#19

Post by yuliyp »

miles wrote: post #3

Where was the ACLU's handwringing when these platforms were used to disseminate lies and sow dissension?

I think you're misunderstanding the ACLU's arguments here. They're fairly consistently pro free-speech, mostly regardless of what that means. There's not much handwringing from them about "bad" speech because they're OK with bad speech being out there. I don't think they're fans of Trump, as their statement makes clear, but they're worried about the precedent that banning him sets.
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