by Tom Luongo<\/p>\n
The First Amendment protects your right to say whatever you want free from government prosecution.\u00a0 It does not protect you from saying hateful things on private properties or privately-owned forums without fear of repercussion.<\/p>\n
That is the very definition of freedom of association.<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s attack by an unhinged, vile piece of human excrement on a Synagogue in Pittsburgh wasn\u2019t hours old before real world agendas pushed to the top of the news.<\/p>\n
Twitter alternative Gab was immediately dropped by PayPal without specific reasons.<\/p>\n
Then immediately, Gab\u2019s latest hosting service unilaterally gave the company a 48-hour termination notice of its contract.<\/p>\n
This is the second time Gab has had to switch providers this year.\u00a0 They have been denied an app in the iOS store.\u00a0 Google will not allow their Android app to be in the Play Store.<\/p>\n
Why is Gab targeted?<\/p>\n
Because Gab is a true alternative to Twitter which exists outside of the control of the financial and political oligarchy.<\/p>\n
With the recent passing of the EU\u2019s \u201cLink Law\u201d which is designed to shut down opposition voices, the merged corporate\/political oligarchy are moving to ensure that all speech is criminalized.<\/p>\n
But to do that they first have to square the circle around that pesky First Amendment in the U.S.<\/p>\n
And that means outsourcing the censorship to the companies who own the internet access points \u2013 the app platforms, the social media giants, the hosting firms and payment processors.<\/p>\n
If you can\u2019t build and maintain a business then you can\u2019t oppose their rule.<\/p>\n
With apologies to Trey Parker and Matt Stone<\/a>, \u201cFree Speech isn\u2019t Free\u2026 it costs a buck o\u2019 five.\u201d<\/p>\n This is classic barrier-to-entry stuff that the government engages in to protect the market share of the favored companies over their competition.<\/p>\n And despite the roadblocks put up in front of Gab it has continued to grow.<\/p>\n The platform has improved.\u00a0 I know.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been a member since 2016 when it was only a haven for the vilest of people. \u00a0That early culture drove me away along with its limitations, but then again, I\u2019m pretty bad at this whole social media thing.<\/p>\n But, today that is not the case.\u00a0 Gab simply doesn\u2019t censor you.\u00a0 If you want to be a jackass in public, that\u2019s your business.<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t seem to stop\u00a0Elizabeth Warren after all.<\/a><\/p>\n What content you consume and produce is your responsibility and CEO Andrew Torba has given you those tools to speak freely and freely be ignored.<\/p>\n In fact, the censorship tools are stronger than they are on Twitter.<\/p>\n Gab is more stringent in enforcing its policy to remove speech which is a clear incitement to violence than Twitter is.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s the irony of this.\u00a0 The Synagogue shooter was a member of Gab.\u00a0 He also had a Facebook, Twitter and Instagram account. \u00a0They did this to Gab because they could and because they were told to.<\/p>\n