Alex Jones banned from Facebook, Apple, Spotify, and Youtube.

[Stevicus]

To me this is the crux of the issue. Have FB, Twitter, YouTube and the like become defacto "commons" in our society? I think they have. I think they are near enough to monopolies that we need to categorize them differently.

As it stands now, a few individuals like Zuckerberg can (and are), acting as our society's censors.

If that's the case then maybe an antitrust suit might be in order. Break these companies up, just as was done with AT&T.

 

[Stevicus]

Keep in mind that people have always been shut out of the public square for bad behaviour and violation of established rules and norms. By comparison these companies are much more tolerant that any historical comparison you could make.

I suppose it would depend on when. A lot of what is considered popular and acceptable on the internet may not necessarily fly in public square, depending on the local community standard.

I've seen some pretty odd folks out on the streets with tables and/or signs whose views were so wild as to make Alex Jones look like a rationalist.

I remember one guy carrying a sign that said "Silent radio = mind control" or something to that effect. He looked pretty disheveled (probably homeless), yet nobody bothered him or seemed interested in what he had to say. I've seen others out and about who have come up with really weird stuff. So, I think public square nowadays would likely be a bit more tolerant and lenient than the social media companies, at least as far as the content of ideas they would typically allow.

When it comes to the internet and social media, it's not really just a "public square" or even anything remotely analogous to it. It's more like a giant park, with small gatherings scattered about - most of which have nothing to do with each other.

And just as with the "silent radio" guy, you'll find plenty of people with all kinds of strange ideas and off-beat ways of looking at the world.

But most of them slip under the radar, probably because no one really notices them or really cares all that much. (Or maybe they're insufferably boring, like me.) It's only when someone has gained enough of a following and a certain level of notoriety that some degree of resistance and attempts to remove them start to take place.

I don't know how long Alex Jones has been doing what he's been doing, but it appears he's been doing it for quite some time using the same internet and the various sites in question. It seemed like they were okay with what he was doing at the beginning and for many years, but then they suddenly decide against him.

 

[fantome profane]

I remember one guy carrying a sign that said "Silent radio = mind control" or something to that effect

Is that really any more insane than saying Clinton and Obama are literally demons who smell like sulphur and attract flies?

I know that sadly there are a lot of people with severe mental issue out on the street. But Jones could give any one of them competition,