Anti-Social Media and the First Amendment

I could have titled that anti-socialist media, or other words to that effect.

The First Amendment reads as follows:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances

So when Congress called a hearing on "fake news" and hauled Facebook & Google in front of their technically illiterate members, the results were less than stellar. To say the least.

Project Censored had several podcasts/radio shows on this debacle.  While many cheered the ending of Alex Jones on Twitter,  they were unaware that the adjustments to the algorithms in Facebook & Google, et al meant that left wing news sources and independent news sources were, for all practical intents and purposes, effectively blacklisted from the results, had accounts closed, or were put so far down the search results page that no one would find them.

And this is not censorship?  It's not direct government censorship.  It's censorship by private platforms that do not have to comply with citizen's First Amendment rights.  Remember the Amendment (read LAW) says that "Congress shall make no law..."  So when Congress called the tech giants in front of them and asked them to do something about so called "fake media,"  non-corporate sources took a big hit in hits and funding.  Mint Press News, Truthout, TruthDig, and others took major hits while the corporate media sat back and reaped all the rewards.  

Never mind that the corporate media was wrong about Iraq, Afghanistan, deregulation, Trump, and the laundry list goes on.  Because they are corporate owned and support the corporate power structure,  they are given a free pass.  Meanwhile,  those that go through the dirty work to uncover the truth about what is really going on are mislabeled and driven further into the underground.

So, what are we to do about this corporate stranglehold on media power?  what do we do if the powers that be decide to remove this account or others that it does not like?

We need alternate sources for social media that we can turn to and build upon now,  before the hit happens.  When faced with competition,  the response of capitalism is to crush it.  When facebook was threatened with Instagram,  it bought it.  What search engine do you use the most?  Bet it's Google.  Why?  

We need to find other avenues now.  While Congress can not censor us,  the capitalists  can.  And what do we do then?  

Interviews worth listening to:

Social Media Censorship in the Era of So-called Fake News (as we approach midterm elections)

The Censorship of Youtube and Facebook with David Pakman and Andrew Austin

Abby Martin, Mike Prysner, and Kevin Gosztola