During the Stalinist days of Twitter under the nominal leadership of Jack Dorsey, bias, censorship, and government collusion ran amok. What once was a platform dedicated to the free marketplace of ideas was slowly, methodically infiltrated by unabashed Marxists dedicated to the promotion of propaganda, and the suppression of any democratizing narrative.
Bad thinking was punishable by algorithmic deemphasis, other wise known as “shadow banning.” The most egregious offenders of politically correct ideology were completely banned. Many for life.
To describe what Twitter had become as Orwellian was to understate the enormity of what we have now come to understand as the intimate relationship developed between American intelligence agencies and Twitter high ranking employees. Some of the symbiosis was healthy. The FBI does work in concert with American tech companies to help prevent technical or human penetrations by subversive, nation state operatives. This program is known as InfraGard.
Remember, the Twitter dark ages were ruled by what became a euphemistic mission statement, “To give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers.” But, totalitarians have always hidden behind utopian slogans and double speak. For instance, Stalin himself liked to say, “Gaiety is the most outstanding feature of the Soviet Union.” All the while, he was starving, working to death, or summarily executing approximately 20 million of his own people. So much for the Soviet worker’s paradise or the Edenic comity of the Twitterverse.
Enter Elon Musk. Though far from perfect, Twitter is closer today, in practice, to its idealistic mission statement than ever before.
In response to the marginalization of conservative political voices and many Christian commentators, a handful of alternatives began to sprout from the digital landscape. One of the first serious competitors to the monopoly held by Twitter and it’s technocrat allies, Google and Apple, was Parler. A number of conservative/populist personalities invested heavily in Parler only to be thwarted by the collusion of Google and Apple to demonetize and deplatform the fledgling enterprise. In Parler’s case, the forces of censorship were largely victorious.
More recently, a competitor to Twitter has gained prominence and capitalizes on former President Donald Trump’s exclusion from the colossal miniblog platform. Truth Social claims to be “America's ‘Big Tent’ social media platform that encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation without discriminating on the basis of political ideology.”
Maybe not so much.
Truth Social operates much like Twitter and offers desktop and mobile platforms available for Apple and Android products. A Twitter user may re-Tweet. A Truth Social user re-Truths. A bit of a mouthful. I dare you to say that ten times as fast as you can.
By way of background, my last few Townhall columns have called attention to popular conservative personalities who have not been champions of free speech and convivial debate. Both of these principles have been at the heart of conservative thought for decades. Some in the conservative movement seem addicted to spectacle and social media engagement at the expense of honest, thoughtful discussion.
Mere moments after positing my last Townhall column on Truth Social (06-20-23), I received an email from the platform stating that my account had been permanently banned. I had not so much as received a warning from the platform, which I use almost exclusively to share my weekly column. Not a single previous infraction has been lodged or cited. And, no reason for Truth Social’s action has been stated beyond the ambiguous “violation of community guidelines."
Ironically, last Tuesday’s column specifically addressed the decline of free thought in some sectors of the conservative movement, and a disturbing rise in demagoguery, totalitarian bullying, and suppression tactics. Interestingly, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram have all allowed the aforementioned column on their platforms without censure.
All attempts to appeal and communicate with Truth Social via contact@truthsocial.com have, as of this writing, been ignored. I have encountered similar issues in the past with LinkedIn; however, that platform was immediately responsive, and a resolution was arrived at quickly.
Among social media platforms, Truth Social ranks 197th with 6.3 million desktop and mobile visits for the month of May. Since March, the platform has fallen 17 spots in its category and 317 spots nationwide. Doubtless, its falling numbers correspond to the renaissance blooming on Twitter’s platform. All other similar platforms will certainly struggle as Twitter’s prominence continues to exponentiate.
Perhaps, Truth Social shouldn’t be so cavalier about booting people from their platform?
Twitter is ranked number 2, in the same category as Truth Social, with 6.6 billion visits for May. To add a bit of perspective, if you could hitch a ride on a rocket that traveled at one mile per second, it would take you about 73 days to travel approximately 6.3 million miles. Conversely, if you wanted to travel 6.6 billion miles at the same speed, it would take you about 209 years.
Truth Social isn’t even in the same star system as Twitter.
It’s saddening to see a platform, created in response to Twitter’s Stalinist censorship tactics, adopting the same tactics when presented with speech with which it disagrees. Former President Donald Trump is unquestionably one of the fiercest champions of free speech in politics today — it’s shameful and disappointing that those who are entrusted with his reputation and legacy are choosing to dishonor him and our fundamental civil rights with their cowardly acts of censorship.
Conservatism is in danger of being corrupted by fanatics who think the fight is all that matters; that essentially, the ends justify the means. Apropos is a recent Tweet by Elon, “Fanaticism is always a function of repressed doubt —Dune.”
Editor's Note: Truth Social told users that accounts on its platform were "inadvertently banned," citing a "bug" in its "bot mitigation system." As a result, erroneously banned accounts were "fully reinstated," according to an email from the company.
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