Censorship, oh no!
So, Alex Jones managed to get himself turfed from most main stream social media this week. Jones, and his Infowars website/podcast, is a far right wing conspiracy theorist. He’s also a raging racist, misogynist, Islamophobic, homophobic clown.
He’s made a career of spewing hate to other hateful individuals and disseminating fake news, no not Trump’s idea of fake news, actual fake news. Made up foolishness with no basis in fact, completely made up in his small mind.
I applauded this move. I have no time in my life for people like this. But then last night I noticed something on Twitter. People that I follow, that I don’t believe are right wing, let alone far right wing, tweeting about censorship and complaining that people should have a choice and make decisions for themselves.
I’m going to make a probably very unpopular comment. Censorship is not always bad. Not everyone deserves a voice, and free speech does not guarantee you a platform.
Sadly critical thinking, and being able to separate truth from lies, is not taught all that well. Children are taught “this is how to do this thing”. Trust me, from someone that spent his childhood figuring out alternate methods to do things and constantly being chastised for not doing it the “right” way, I know this for a fact. This is hurting us with social media. Don’t believe me? Scan your Facebook feed. I’ll be very surprised if you don’t find at least one in four posts that aren’t some ridiculous conspiracy theory, the latest fad diet, some complete lie that just fits a narrative or some other similar garbage.
Social media is fueled by emotion. Attention spans are short so memes are at the forefront, clickbait headlines designed just to get you to click that post. Emotionally charged memes designed to get you to go “WOW I have to tell all my friends about this before it’s too late!!!!”.
Most people don’t think. They don’t take a moment and say “hmmm, is that really true?” before clicking share. People like Alex Jones prey on that behaviour. They prey on fear. Fear that you’ll lose your way of life. Fear that the terrible terrorists are coming to kill you all and make you wear turbans. Fear that your gay neighbour is going to turn your child gay, or worse molest them (just to be clear homosexual does not equal pedophile).
Want more proof? The resurgence of measles because people do medical research on Facebook and Twitter and believe things posted by <sarcasm>world renowned doctors like Jenny McCarthy and Gweneth Paltrow </sarcasm>.
So yes, some voices need to be censored. No one is saying Alex Jones can’t have his website, and guess what? You can host your own videos on your own website, YouTube is not the only way to host video on the web, it’s a discovery medium more than anything. And limiting discovery of things like the vitriol Jones spews is a GOOD THING.
We need to force these people with these horrible hateful views back underground. Make them ashamed again. Stop giving them power. Stop giving them platforms.
Alex Jones is a hateful human being that tries to instill fear and hate in the public. He deserved to be censored.
Not all censorship is bad.
