The Federalist, a conservative media outlet, recently published an article saying that if conservatives still want to use the Internet infrastructure for free speech and normal business, it’s Time to take a stand against the “high-tech tyrants.
Here are some excerpts from the article.
For the past 20 years, large tech companies have been evolving into tech oligarchs. Last month, their power was revealed. Relying on their large markets and their control of American discourse, the tech oligarchs have finally revealed the true face behind their rhetoric of restraint, respect for norms of speech, and respect for diversity or pluralism of opinion.
They started by banning the president of the United States from using all possible platforms. Then they extended to others, even conservative rivals.
Although these restrictions use Trump (Trump) as an excuse, it is clear that these bans are not just aimed at Trump. After all, Trump is out of office. Rather, this is a tangible punishment by the tech oligarchs of millions of Americans, people isolated, delegitimized, marginalized and silenced simply because they hold views and beliefs different from those of the big corporate media coalition, the Democratic establishment and the Silicon Valley giants.
High-Tech Giants Are Destroying Online Public Discourse Platforms
This market power was demonstrated recently when Apple, Google and Amazon acted together to destroy Parler, the mainstream alternative to Twitter. Within just a few hours, Apple and Google removed Parler from their App stores, and Amazon’s cloud-hosting arm, Amazon Web Services, kicked out the company and crippled its website component.
They will also get help from the Democrats. Democrats are well aware that the high-tech giants are on their side. Michelle Obama (D-Mass.) voiced her concerns about Trump’s comments. And instead of going to Congress and appealing to the president or the public, she decided to just ask big tech companies to ban Trump.
The time has come for conservatives to make the right choice
Matt Yglesias recently criticized conservatives, who always complain about social media bias but have few solutions. He’s right, the time for reasoned Education is over, and it’s time to make concrete policies and make adjustments to solutions.
The threat of an ideological monopoly or oligopoly is now a tangible and current threat. If left unaddressed, it will relegate conservatives, libertarians, and anyone of right-leaning persuasion to the ranks of second-class citizens who will not have normal access to online facilities for free speech, commerce, and community participation.
Breaking the high-tech oligopoly
Antitrust laws are applicable, but they are not the only remedy. It’s time to eliminate the billions of dollars in local and federal preference subsidies for large technology companies. Both Google and Amazon have substantial federal contracts with the government; AWS, for example, provides Cloud Computing for the CIA. Conservatives should use these funds as leverage to achieve better results.
Section 230 immunity is a get-out-of-jail-free card for tech giants. Section 230 should be reformed to incentivize technology companies to address the exploitative and harassing content that proliferates on their platforms and to accommodate more diverse political speech. Or, if that fails, Section 230 should be repealed altogether.
In short, do not privilege large corporations that threaten pluralism and a free society. People should restore a proper American hierarchy in which the people rule, not the mob, business and industry barons, bureaucrats and tech giants.
It is time for conservatives to make a choice. The direction we go will determine whether we are the kind of republican government and free trade system the people want. Or has our idea of freedom become so corrupted that we are willing to fundamentally sacrifice free speech in favor of a radically undemocratic associationism?
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