Violent unrest at the U.S. Capitol nearly one week ago is continuing to have a rippling impact throughout the nation.
The political and big tech arenas are arguably most involved in certain changes being made at this time. Yesterday, House Democrats filed impeachment articles against President Trump; furthermore, big tech companies are ramping up censorship and using the violence on Capitol Hill last week as an excuse.
Social media platforms, in particular, are making moves to ensure that nothing like January 6 ever happens again. This explains why Facebook is now banning any and all content revolving around “Stop the Steal,” Breitbart News confirms.
Changes on Facebook
After last Wednesday’s events, one of the first changes Facebook made involved indefinitely prohibiting President Trump from using their platform. The company also explained that his ban will last at least as long as Trump remains in office.
Now, Facebook is booting off Stop the Steal content. The cited reason deals with the potential for more political violence, especially as the inauguration of Joe Biden nears closer. Therefore, any and all content with mentions of Stop the Steal is coming down from Facebook and Instagram.
Our Preparations Ahead of Inauguration Day https://t.co/7UjKbOdvgG
— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) January 11, 2021
Calls to Stop the Steal arrived amid widespread beliefs that Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election from Trump. After the mobbing of the U.S. Capitol, however, Facebook is treating this phrase as one that is likely to incite additional violence and chaos.
Free Speech in America
After the mass de-platforming of President Trump and collective action taken against Parler, a free speech site beloved amongst conservatives, many right-wingers fear that free speech is dead in America.
At this time, Parler is suing Amazon for breach of contract, antitrust violations, and obstruction of business relationships. The popular free speech site went offline early Monday morning after Amazon Web Services removed them. Parler is now seeking to rebuild and get back online.
Download Parler Social Media!
Free speech and expression.
Unbiased algorithms.
We will never sell or share your data!
We are a community of real people with a real message. https://t.co/2aw3zqnFd5 #Parler #censorship #freespeech #Parley #howdoyouparley #SafetyFirst pic.twitter.com/5drEdInZxD
— Parler (@parler_app) February 7, 2020
Due to the current trends, social media censorship of conservatives is predicted to increase. Twitter, for instance, is already getting negative attention for booting off not just the 45th president, but a series of other right-wing accounts. Yesterday, Twitter’s shares dropped by 10% after their permanent removal of the @realDonaldTrump account.
Do you agree with Facebook’s decision to take down any and all Stop the Steal content? Is this another way of censoring conservatives’ speech? We want to know what your thoughts are in the comments section below.
