{"id":1218138,"date":"2022-01-15T15:04:16","date_gmt":"2022-01-15T20:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1218138"},"modified":"2022-01-15T15:04:25","modified_gmt":"2022-01-15T20:04:25","slug":"elder-big-tech-thugs-and-their-allies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/elder-big-tech-thugs-and-their-allies\/","title":{"rendered":"ELDER: Big Tech Thugs And Their Allies"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Felder-big-tech-thugs-and-their-allies%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1218138&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In an article last February headlined \u201cDo Facebook, Twitter and YouTube censor conservatives? Claims \u2018not supported by the facts,\u2019 new research says,\u201d USA Today\u2019s Jessica Guynn wrote, \u201cDespite repeated charges of anti-conservative bias from former President Donald Trump and other GOP critics, Facebook, Twitter and Google\u2019s YouTube are not slanted against right-leaning users, a new report out of New York University found.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Guynn quoted Paul Barrett, deputy director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, who said: \u201cRepublicans, or more broadly conservatives, have been spreading a form of disinformation on how they\u2019re treated on social media. They complain they\u2019re censored and suppressed but, not only is there not evidence to support that, what evidence exists actually cuts in the other direction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In other words, conservative users of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram marinate in a state of paranoia, groundlessly convinced that their posts face restrictions, if not outright suppression.<\/p>\n<p>Tell this to singer-songwriter John Ondrasik, to cite just one example, who on Jan. 2 posted his new music video critical of President Joe Biden\u2019s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. YouTube first attached a warning that the video\u2019s images violated the platform\u2019s \u201cgraphic content policy,\u201d making it unsuitable for younger audiences. But five days and 250,000 views later, YouTube removed it altogether. Nine hours later, when conservatives and, one hopes, others complained, YouTube restored it, although it added another warning labeling the video \u201cinappropriate or offensive to some audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>About its abrupt takedown and restoration, YouTube explained: \u201cThis was our mistake and we\u2019ve reinstated your video. So sorry this happened and thanks for being patient while we worked this out.\u201d What was there to \u201cwork out\u201d? As Ondrasik pointed out, a number of videos on YouTube displaying \u201csimilar Taliban atrocities\u201d not only remain on the platform but are monetized, actually making money for whoever posted it.<\/p>\n<p>When I ended my California gubernatorial campaign to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom, my Twitter account stood shy of one million followers. Since then, and despite my increased notoriety \u2014 for good or for ill \u2014 my Twitter account has lost nearly 25,000 followers and continues to lose hundreds per day. By contrast, my accounts on Instagram and Facebook add hundreds of new followers each day.<\/p>\n<p>This Elder Twitter erosion began before its founder and CEO Jack Dorsey resigned at the end of November 2021, replaced by Twitter executive Parag Agrawal. Agrawal tweeted in 2010: \u201cIf they are not gonna make a distinction between Muslims and extremists, then why should I distinguish between white people and racists.\u201d Agrawal said he was merely quoting a comedian on \u201cThe Daily Show.\u201d Still, not a good sign.<\/p>\n<p>More concerning, Agrawal, in an interview in 2020, said: \u201cOur role is not to be bound by the First Amendment, but our role is to serve a healthy public conversation and our moves are reflective of things that we believe lead to a healthier public conversation.\u201d He added: \u201cThe kinds of things that we do about this is, focus less on thinking about free speech, but thinking about how the times have changed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is simply breathtaking \u2014 \u201creflective of things that we believe lead to a healthier public conversation\u201d? As defined by whom? Of course, conservatives complain. But why the silence among the Left, the ACLU types we once thought believed in the free flow of ideas and that the antidote to bad ideas is good ideas?<\/p>\n<p>So what that Trump finds his social media platforms shut down because he rejected the results of the 2020 election. Silence, indeed, applause, from the Left. So what that Hillary Clinton peddles conspiracy theories about the 2016 election, calls Trump \u201cillegitimate\u201d and the 2016 election \u201cstolen,\u201d yet faces no retaliation from Big Tech social media platforms. Silence, indeed, applause, from the Left.<\/p>\n<p>So much for the powerful quote by a biographer of French philosopher Voltaire: \u201cI disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Welcome to Big Tech social media. Welcome to the silence of its allies from today\u2019s Left.<\/p>\n<p>The views expressed in this piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/p>\n<p>Larry Elder is a bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk show host. His latest book, \u201cThe New Trump Standard,\u201d is available in paperback from Amazon.com and for Nook, Kindle, iBooks and Google Play. To find out more about Larry Elder, or become an \u201cElderado,\u201d visit www.LarryElder.com. Follow Larry on Twitter @LarryElder. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.<\/p>\n<p>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\">member<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In an article last February headlined \u201cDo Facebook, Twitter and YouTube censor conservatives? Claims \u2018not supported by the facts,\u2019 new research says,\u201d USA Today\u2019s Jessica Guynn wrote, \u201cDespite repeated charges of anti-conservative bias from former President Donald Trump and other GOP critics, Facebook, Twitter and Google\u2019s YouTube are not slanted against right-leaning users, a new &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":1888455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1218138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1218138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1218138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1218138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1888455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1218138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1218138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1218138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}