Do Trumpists know how futile their fury at "Big Tech" is?

Jan 10, 2021, 4:41 PM

Seriously...what can Trumpists demand of Big Tech that will ever be granted? That Twitter/Facebook/etc. allow people to spread lies and advocate for violence and uprisings against the United States of America on their platforms without consequence and that those platforms - which are owned by private companies - be able to do absolutely nothing about it?

Really? How are are the Trumpists ever going to make that happen? Legally? Good luck. By now the majority of Americans are growing well aware there's a massive problem getting out of control on social media; the needle's pointed the other way on that issue. Most of us absolutely do not want Civil War 2 and think it's time and past time to turn the temperature down not up. It's exactly what happens when a forum gets out of control due to trolling; the mods start zapping the worst offenders. They have to...or the whole forum blows up and the sane users head for the exits.

This time it's America itself that's been trolled on a mega scale, and social media is doing what it must to survive...and taking out the most egregious of the trash...which, amazingly, includes the standing President of the United States of America. (Think on that for a minute!) Trumpists may gnash their teeth and wail but they will never compel those platforms to capitulate to them. Ever. That option went off the table the second Trump's loyalists crashed through the doors of Congress wearing fuzzy goat hats and carrying rebel flags while screaming "death to traitors!" while the Congress was busy certifying the electors of a democratic election. Especially since the non-Trumpists now control all three chambers for at least the next two years...and it's going to be a lot longer than that unless the GOP rids itself of Trumpism.

Trumpists are free to start their own utterly unregulated platforms, of course. Parler is trying but it's so out of control Amazon wouldn't host it anymore. They might get back on the air in a week or so if they can find anybody to carry them, which is going to be troublesome because they're so radioactive right now. But even Parler was having to zap threads from Lin Wood calling for Mike Pence's execution before they went off the air...and they're well-aware of the legal liability they incur if they let their users organize violent crimes or - God help them! - an outright rebellion against the United States government. (That starts looking like being an accessory to sedition and treason.)

So...if the angry Trumpists won't regulate themselves, how exactly are they planning on forcing private companies to carry extremist messages advocating violence and sedition again? How does that even work?

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