By Royal Alexander/Opinion
Trump is banned while Ayatollah Khameni, head of a murderous Iranian regime, still allowed
The long-anticipated purging of conservatives and conservative speech has begun. We have our first preview of life under the Left as Twitter purges Pres. Trump and others while Parler faces bans from Apple and Google. Now Amazon has kicked Parler off of its web hosting service as well.
These powerful tech companies are making aggressive moves against conservative figures on their respective platforms, with Twitter purging prominent conservative accounts including President Trump, who received a permanent ban. Apple has now threatened to ban new social media app Parler from its app store over its allegedly insufficient “content moderation policies.” Google outright banned the Parler app from its own software-sharing system.
Twitter on Friday also banned the accounts of Sidney Powell, former federal prosecutor and election attorney, and former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, for supposedly violating the company’s content rules. Numerous conservative political figures, commentators and journalists have also reported having hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers deleted. Among numerous others, Fox News Channel’s Brian Kilmeade and commentators Todd Starnes and Terrence K. Williams report losing tens of thousands of followers in just a few hours. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has responded that “silencing speech is dangerous. It’s un-American. Sadly, this isn’t a new tactic of the Left. They’ve worked to silence opposing voices for years. We can’t let them silence 75 million Americans. This isn’t the CCP.”
As we know, Parler has presented itself as a free speech alternative to Twitter and has attracted a flood of new users. It now faces major pressure from Apple to tighten and make more restrictive its content rules. As noted above, Apple has notified Parler that it would ban it from its App Store software sharing system if Parler did not “reform” its policies to restrict what Apple deems “violent speech.” This is the very definition of censorship.
It’s important to truthfully acknowledge what we are seeing now. Censorship of speech and expression may be new to us but it’s not new to Twitter, Google, and Facebook. These tech giants, in the interest of making huge sums of money, have been willing to “collaborate” with highly repressive governments in countries like China, Iran and Russia in the suppression of speech.
Suffice it to say that this is not a road we as a nation want to go down. When companies like these wield unchecked power to remove large numbers of people from their platforms—platforms that have become indispensable to free speech that shapes our public discourse—we face a grave danger.
Our constitutionally protected freedom of speech and expression, as well as our guarantee of religious liberty, are too closely tied to our rights as free citizens to ever allow censorship in this manner. The only legitimate response to speech we strongly object to is not to censor or suppress that speech but to answer it with more speech that explains the defect or error of it. Totalitarian and authoritarian states—not the United States—employ these tools to keep their citizens oppressed and enslaved. We simply cannot allow or embrace actions of this kind.
Note: YouTube announced it is suspending President Donald Trump’s Channel – January 13, 2021
The views and opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Natchitoches Parish Journal. If you have an article or story of interest for publishing consideration by the NPJ, please send it to NPJNatLa@gmail.com.
Thank you for your article! You are a blessing to Natchitoches. Anybody ok with this censorship does not know world history. Freedom is gradually being taken from us!
Article 2384 on seditious conspiracy.
LII U.S. Code Title 18 PART I CHAPTER 115 § 2384
18 U.S. Code § 2384 – Seditious conspiracy
U.S. Code
Notes
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If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
“The Supreme Court requires the government to provide substantial justification for the interference with the right of free speech where it attempts to regulate the content of the speech. Generally, a person cannot be held liable, either criminally or civilly for anything written or spoken about a person or topic, so long as it is truthful or based on an honest opinion and such statements.
A less stringent test is applied for content-neutral legislation. The Supreme Court has also recognized that the government may prohibit some speech that may cause a breach of the peace or cause violence.”
This is from Cornell School of Law.
WHEN YOU CUT COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN MILLIONS OF PRIVATE AMERICAN CITIZENS ON NEARLY EVERY PLATFORM IS A SIGN OF A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER.
WHEN YOU HAVE A BIAS ONE SIDED MEDIA WHO WILL ONLY REPORT ONE SIDE OF A GOVERMENTS OPINION ITS A SIGN OF A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER.
IF YOU NEED MORE OF WHAT’S GOING ON I SUGGEST READING
Mein Kampf
Adolf Hitler
To those who’re still defending the treachery of their cult leader in inciting the January 6 attack of his terrorist mob in an attempt to overthrow our government, and making preposterous claims that the House, Senate, and President the people lawfully elected in November will now try to “silence” Trump supporters, take away their guns, and put them into “reeducation camps,” I’ll tell you a realistic thing you should fear more than any of your dark fantasies.
If you’re lucky enough to live to have school-age great grand children, one of them may ask you a question one day that might go like this:
“Great Grandpaw, in history class today we were talking about the attack on the Capitol Building back in 2021. Is it true Americans did that? And my friend Cody said that some Americans supported President Trump even after he told the rioters to attack? I know you’d never do that Grandpaw, but did you know any people who did?”
“…even after he told the rioters to attack.” Since that is a complete lie, my great-grandchild will ask me such a question only if the desired re-education effort is successful.
Someone’s a bubble off center.
Emigrant.,
Trump help organize the rally in Washington with tweets encouraging his cult members to come because it was going to be “wild.” He timed his live two-hour lie-fest to them on January 6 to precede the attack and whipped them into a frenzy. He told them they had to “fight back harder if we’re ever going to take back our country from the people who stole the election.” Then he said “I want you to march down there to the Capitol…I want you to be strong, and I’ll be right there with you.”
Of course, as I’ve already posted, that last remark was–in your false phrase you directed at me–a “complete lie.” Trump rode in his limo back to the White House and took obvious delight when the mayhem started. Multiple people who were there attested to that. You’ll say “fake news,” but that will be a complete lie. Trump is a psychopath who has lied to the American people, including you, for four long years. That’s why we the people threw him out of office.
Welcome to America.
As I say to all who attack me on this site for telling the truth, I give you my full permission to have the last word.
So happy you give us permission. You are an arrogant idiot. There is no reasoning with people like you. And to think that you believe people actually care what you have to say.
USMCO3,
I assume you’re retired from the Corps.
As I’m sure you know, the Joint Chiefs of Staff have issued orders to all active forces that any sort of support for “sedition and insurrection” will not be tolerated by anyone in uniform.
As with all others who attack me for speaking the truth here, I won’t be answering you again. Permission granted to USMC03 to have the last word.
And thank you for your service.
Your an idiot!! The thought you have reproduced twice and your stupidity will spread is much more dangerous the Trump is!
James Crowley,
The first word in your post is misspelled. You mean “you’re,” not “your.”
But I’d never call you stupid.
Feel free to have the last word here.
I didn’t call you stupid…. I called you an idiot.. which is incorrect… your just ignorant and blind to facts, your a CNN sheep… nice touch on the last word bit, most Democrats Liberals generally will just block anyone who isn’t “WOKE” like them….
James that’s his trademark
LIBERAL aka THATS ALL I GOT!
If you idiots had any type of situational awareness and the ability to logically comprehend, you would see your actions are accomplishing one thing. Dividing the Nation more while making Trump supporters love him even more. Y’all spent four years trying to fry him. Despicable little unpatriotic ingrates. Go ahead with the last word Rodney Allen. Your opinion matters none. It’s all lies anyway.
Thank you for your articles.
Jeremiah 5:21: Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
The left seems to think this can’t happen to them. Thinking that Biden (old sniffer) is going to satisfy their every wish is a joke. And I’m sure the democrats are not going to have a mail in complaint box set up. And don’t believe for a second they will take criticism and definitely not from their own party. Silencing the people is the first step. Gun control is second,watch the old sniffers first 100 days for that. You liberals are about to see how good we all had it for the last 4 years. You will be able to tell by just watching the numbers.
Royal Alexander’s latest op-ed expresses the same “outrage” of many of the American Terrorists who stormed the US Capitol just a week ago at the command of their cult Leader Trump. They killed one police officer and seriously injured sixteen others. One officer had his eye gouged out. The attasckers were planning to murder Pence and Pelosi. They had zip ties to bind and hold hostage as many members of Congress as they could find. Although Trump promised the crowd he had incited for two hours at the Washington Monument that he would “be with you at the Capitol,” he was instead watching it all unfold on TV in the safety of the White House. Multiple sources in the room said he was obviously delighted with the violence he had created.
But the outrage of rioters was redirected after the were finally driven from the Capitol. One woman, comforted by her husband, sobbed “THEY TEAR GASSED US!” A large, shirtless, tattooed man blubbered “THEY HIT ME ON THE HEAD! THEY KNOCKED ME DOWN! THEY GASSED ME!” One of the mob was videoed at the Washington Airport screaming “THEY PUT ME ON THE F…ING NO-FLY LIST! THEY’RE TRYIN’ TO RUIN MY LIFE!”
Royal Alexander’ reaction to the vile events of January 6 is much the same: “LOOK AT WHAT THE TERRIBLE LIBERALS ARE DOING TO US! THEY TOOK AWAY TRUMP’S TWITTER ACCOUNT!” No, Royal, Twitter took away Trump’s Twitter account.
The reason these private companies banned Trump from their platforms was that he’s spent the last four years LYING AND INCITING VIOLENCE ON THEM! Now that those tactics have resulted in sedition and violent insurrection against America, you’re whining about Trump’s not being able TO CONTINUE ADVOCATING THE OVERTHROW OF DEMOCRACY ITSELF! I’m using all caps here because figuratively nearly deaf people like you have to be shouted at.
The greatest shame about your reprehensible article is this: you never even mention the disgrace to you and your ilk of the savage attack–motived only by lies of people like you–on our country on January 6.
You remind me of the story about the teenager who murdered his parents but then asked the court at his trial for mercy because he was an orphan.
You’re a disgrace. But as Bertolt Brecht wrote, “No man is completely useless: he will always serve as a bad example.”
Are you quoting the Washington protesters or some of the left supported summer rioters? There were a lot of those rioters complaining about being gassed and having their k mart looting rudely interrupted!
Rodney Allen you have our permission to have the last word.
Thank you Rodney for writing what I also feel. I imagine Royal would be right up there with the other ultra right wingers storming the capital. He just wants to stir up trouble. Wish they’d remove his column, I get sick of reading his garbage & looking at his smirking face!
It’s only beginning. They won’t stop with President Trump; he’s just the first domino to fall. They’re after all of those who voted for and supported him. Because if there can be one Trump-like threat to the corrupt DC establishment, there will be more unless those who love liberty can be re-educated and “cleansed.” I dread the coming storm.
I think you misspelled “insurrectionists” and “inciters of violence,” or are those synonymous with “conservative”?
I’m surprised they’re still letting you post on this forum after you spent several weeks spreading the lies and incitements that led to the insurrection at the Capitol.
Would someone please explain why Mr Alexander’s opinion matters. Just because you have a right to say something does not mean you should. This is not censorship any more than it is to block out the guy who keeps yelling fire in a crowded theater