Twatter, Fazeborg, and Gulagoogle

The big tech companies are treading dangerous ground. They are lying to their users, and by extension they are lying to their advertising. But before I explain, a quick note about twatter. Twitter, whose founder, Jack Dorsey, never saw a fascist jackboot he didn't want to shine with his own spittle, is an outrage amplification machine. Something about the media is addicting. And the more the outrage, the more addicting it feels. I honestly have been getting better night sleep by limiting my daily exposure to Twitter.

The basic problem with big tech is that their claim to be neutral in American politics in the dialogue between right and left is provably false. Everyone knows this intuitively, yet they all continue to claim how evenhanded they are.

Scott Adams has stated this more eloquently than I will be able to. In describing his position if he is in fact being shadowbanned, he said.

If one political party can use the machinery of social networks to reduce free speech, that is an attack on American values at the deepest level. As a patriot, I would feel obligated to help kill Twitter. (And you wouldn’t want to bet against me.) 

I understand Twitter is looking for a buyer. If management is shadowbanning me, that would be breach of fiduciary responsibility, screwing both the shareholders and the employees who hope the company can be purchased. In my view, shadowbanning would make Twitter too toxic to own. That toxicity – treason in my view – would transfer to the buyer.

There are two key issues, one moral, one legal.  Let's take the legal one first.  If the search/promotion/display policies of any of these platforms claim to be neutral, but in fact are being manipulated actively for political reasons but the stated policy of the network is to let the users decide, then they may run afoul of the law, as advertisers using their platforms aren't getting what is expected.  Scott Adams nails the ethical piece, as claiming to be a free speech platform, but secretly suppressing speech is tantamount to treason to our nation's founding principles.

I especially loathe Jack Dorsey and hope he eventually suffers the traditional penalty meted out to traitors.

UPDATE

Reader Foxfier provides a helpful link about a suit brought by American Freedom Law Center on this topic against Twitter and Facebook.  This suit will probably lose, but I like the "public square" argument, that these platforms form the equivalent of a street corner, where the free speech of individuals can't be suppressed based on viewpoint.

I would love to see lawsuits based on securities violations or false advertising by these corporations, because I think they are more vulnerable there.