Date: 1/27/2021
The argument that “the Internet is my property and I can do whatever I want with it” is a poor argument to allow censorship and fact checking based on opinion. Social media is the modern day village square. The village square evolved away from the absolute control of the local baron.
Can I place my poles in the tree belt for my own internet service? Can I used any frequency I want for WIFI? Can I offer internet service in any town without state and local approval? Can I compete without permission with existing internet service providers? The answer is “no.”
Many of us have seen the “leak” of the video of the CEO of twitter. He is saying that censoring Donald Trump is the beginning. He has great plans to censor more information to assure us that we only get the “truth,” I am reminded of the Ministry of Truth in the novel “1984.” I agree with my brother-in-law when he said , “I do not need to be fact checked by a kid in blue jeans who does not know what Pearl Harbor is.”
He is not making his decision based on economics. If he was he would not care what the content is. He is basing his decision on control. No one forces anyone to look at the content. When I buy the daily paper I read the news, what little of it there is. I ignore the sports section, fashion section and the predictable and repetitive editorials. I do not demand that they be removed for my benefit. If someone else wants to read them they can.
If you really want me to believe that there was no election fraud a thorough investigation of the allegations would convince me more than the same repetitions writing style of Mao’s “Little Red Book” and censoring out differing view points.
Robert Joseph Underwood
Springfield
