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Gab.com’s Response to Congress

news.gab.com

71–80 of 254 posts

Re: Gab.com’s Response to Congress

#71
I was on board until it got to their misunderstandings of the first amendment.

>our refusal to change our First Amendment-based moderation policy

This seems like a typical misunderstanding of the First Amendment, which only restricts government action.

>Gab has been the subject of a years-long smear campaign by activist groups and boycotted by virtually every technology company of consequence – Amazon, Apple, Coinbase, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, PayPal, Stripe, and Visa included – because of our refusal to change our First Amendment-based moderation policy.

This article is the most reasonably phrased 'Big Tech is violating my 1st Amendment rights' but it is still not valid. It's open to interpretation whether this is attributable to the cause they state.

>The reality of social media content moderation practices today is that large swathes of commonly-held viewpoints and belief systems are systematically discriminated against on the Internet’s largest websites

This is a non-sequitur following discussion of the first amendment.

>American citizens may have freedom of speech, but they find themselves with vanishingly few public forums in which to exercise it fully.

I wonder whether Gab agrees that businesses have a right to refuse service to anyone arbitrarily, such as not making a cake for a gay couple.

>Our web properties are among only a handful on the Internet where Madison’s “general intercourse of sentiments” can presently flow unimpeded by corporate interests, opaquely funded NGOs, and activist groups

I am very skeptical of that claim.

Oh, and I am very open to anyone who would like to explain to me how this is incorrect.

Re: Gab.com’s Response to Congress

#72
post #3

A private company probably shouldn’t be allowed to interpret the constitution to this degree. I wonder if someone will sue and SCOTUS will rule.

People should, on every occasion, first inquire with the government before exercising their most fundamental rights. It is the only way to ensure that the people maintain the ongoing approval of their government.

I think you forgot the sarcasm tag at the end there.

Re: Gab.com’s Response to Congress

#73
post #54

> All internal or external reviews, studies, reports, data, analyses, and related communications regarding your platform and (i) misinformation, disinformation and malinformation relating to the 2020 election; (ii) efforts to overturn, challenge, or otherwise interfere with the 2020 election or the certification of electoral college results; (iii) Domestic violent extremists, etc.; and (iv) foreign malign influence i…

You’re mixing two distinct things. Sunlight is the best disinfectant when it comes to freedom of speech, but that does not imply the government should have full access to the communication of individuals and trounce the fourth amendment. Put it this way, if the government wanted to get all comms around antifa, or any other anti gov anti police protests, would that be okay?

> Sunlight is the best disinfectant when it comes to freedom of speech, but that does not imply the government should have full access to the communication of individuals and trounce the fourth amendment

Congress isn't claiming full access. It's asking Gab to preserve certain information while it goes through due process. You have a right to free speech, and the government has the right to investigate persons who threaten violent insurrection.

Re: Gab.com’s Response to Congress

#74
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to work for a former U.S. Marine who had a good quote - "don't write when you can speak, don't speak when you can nod, and don't nod when you can wink".

That quote is at least a 100 years old, but it's pretty hard to follow in practice. Especially at a digital communications company!

If you know the original source I'd be curious to hear it.

Re: Gab.com’s Response to Congress

#75
post #46

> American citizens may have freedom of speech, but they find themselves with vanishingly few public forums in which to exercise it fully. Well put. As we've also seen from numerous leaks and incidents over the years, big business and government often works hand-in-hand, with revolving door policies and barely legal indirect bribes happening regularly. That the government is now seeking to curtail the First Amendment…

It's terribly put. The American concept of freedom of speech has nothing to do with access to public forums but rather is a limit on government action against your ability to run your own forum (newspaper, etc), and if you consider that when the Constitution and Bill of Rights were actually written, most Americans had significantly less forums. A few newspapers made up almost the entirety of public forums when the ri…

He literally addresses your first point a few paragraphs into the meat of the statement. Do you have any kind of rebuttal or historical backing besides "nuh uh"?

[1] https://i.imgur.com/WuvtYIy.png

Re: Gab.com’s Response to Congress

#76

> All internal or external reviews, studies, reports, data, analyses, and related communications regarding your platform and (i) misinformation, disinformation and malinformation relating to the 2020 election; (ii) efforts to overturn, challenge, or otherwise interfere with the 2020 election or the certification of electoral college results; (iii) Domestic violent extremists, etc.; and (iv) foreign malign influence i…

Maybe they are just not interested what their users are writing about unless they don't break the law. Sounds like the shocker these days, but as I understand this is Gab business model.

"Spreading misinformation" about the election, whatever it means, is not a crime, I can claim that a given election was a subject to, say, Russian collusion, which is a good point to discuss, as Mueller report is full of statements like this:

"[a] statement that the investigation did not establish particular facts does not mean there was no evidence of those facts."

which can be interpreted one way or another, so it is good to have a discussions about that but mainstream social platforms want to silent any discussion that they consider to be "misinformation".

Same with opinions about the most recent election. I don't really care if Biden was chosen properly or not, but I do care if we have right to discuss about this this freely without being persecuted by the Police, chased by Congress commissions, fired from my university, banned from the Internet or payment systems, etc. just because I have an opinion that others don't like.

Re: Gab.com’s Response to Congress

#77
post #12

> Gab does not have (and has never had) such records in its care or control In response to a request for all “related communications” to terrorism/Jan. 6 etc. It strains belief that they haven’t even discussed these topics internally.

I used to work for a former U.S. Marine who had a good quote - "don't write when you can speak, don't speak when you can nod, and don't nod when you can wink".

This quote in the context of a Marine is a dark reminder, regardless of which side is more legitimate in each instance: Either a Marine can't trust his government, or the government can't trust its Marine.

Re: Gab.com’s Response to Congress

#78
post #63
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>that Facebook and Twitter should not be forced to support insurrection and violence masquerading as free speech. Where is "force" coming into this other than various government demands and threats?

The entire conservative war against Big Tech is about fake "censorship" (which is actually Free Speech by the private network) and they want to change laws and use the courts to force Facebook and Twitter to allow any content they want to post, including insurrectionist content. This entire debate is about making private networks such as Facebook into "public/government spaces", thus meaning the Bill Of Rights would…

Thanks for reminding me about those efforts. Glad they've mostly petered out by now.

Re: Gab.com’s Response to Congress

#79
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to me like there are more forums for free speech now than ever before. When in our history has it been easier for the average citizen to find a platform to host their views?

You're right, because it's not about having a platform for speech, it's about escaping consequences for speech.

"I can guarantee freedom of speech. I cannot guarantee freedom after speech" -- Idi Amin (the murderous dictator)

Re: Gab.com’s Response to Congress

#80
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to me like there are more forums for free speech now than ever before. When in our history has it been easier for the average citizen to find a platform to host their views?

You're right, because it's not about having a platform for speech, it's about escaping consequences for speech.

This, too, seems more free than every before. Not all that long ago you could be fined and imprisoned for things like blasphemy and obscenity, never mind the whole anti-communist "red scare" that lasted for a few decades. There are loads of examples from just a few decades ago that would be unthinkable today.

I'm not saying things are perfect or that there aren't any problems, but I feel sometimes the historical perspective is a bit lost.

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