by Michael Snyder
\nThe American Dream<\/p>\n
Are the days of the free and open Internet numbered?\u00a0 The Internet is certainly used for all sorts of horrible things, but it has also allowed ordinary people to communicate on a mass scale that would have been unimaginable decades ago.\u00a0 In the old days, if you wanted to reach large audiences of people with your information you always had to go through corporate gatekeepers.\u00a0 But today, anyone with an Internet connection can literally broadcast whatever they want to say to the whole world.\u00a0 Personally, my wife and I have always been amazed at how many people we are able to touch all over the planet from our little home in the mountains.\u00a0 Over the past seven years our websites have been viewed more than 100 million times, and we receive emails about our work from people all over the globe.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, major changes may soon be coming to the Internet.\u00a0 The election of Donald Trump really angered the elite, and they are blaming the power of the Internet for his victory.\u00a0 They insist that something must be done \u201cfor the good of democracy\u201d.<\/p>\n
For example, in an opinion piece\u00a0for the Guardian<\/a>, U.S. Senator Al Franken proposed that it is time for the U.S. government to step in because Google, Facebook and Twitter have failed to\u00a0prevent the spread of propaganda, misinformation, and hate speech<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n As lawmakers grapple with the revelations regarding Russia\u2019s manipulation of social media during the 2016 election, many are shocked to learn the outsized role that the major tech companies play in so many aspects of our lives. Not only do they guide what we see, read, and buy on a regular basis, but their dominance \u2013 specifically in the market of information \u2013 now requires that we consider their role in the integrity of our democracy.<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s hearings demonstrated that these companies may not be up to the challenge that they\u2019ve created for themselves.\u00a0In some instances, it seems that they\u2019ve failed to take commonsense precautions to prevent the spread of propaganda, misinformation, and hate speech<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Those are very ominous words.<\/p>\n So precisely what would constitute \u201cpropaganda\u201d, \u201cmisinformation\u201d or \u201chate speech\u201d?<\/p>\n When you start regulating speech, you cross a very dangerous line.\u00a0 There is a reason why our founders guaranteed us freedom of speech in the Bill of Rights, because if we don\u2019t have the freedom to say what we want then what do we really have left?<\/p>\n During the presidential election, there was a lot of talk about Hillary Clinton\u2019s health.\u00a0 The mainstream media insisted that she was just fine, and they accused those of us in the alternative media that were questioning her health of engaging in \u201cpropaganda\u201d and \u201cmisinformation\u201d.\u00a0 Well, it turns out that we now know that Clinton\u2019s health was so bad that Donna Brazile was\u00a0actually considering replacing her as the nominee<\/a>, and so it was actually the mainstream media that was putting out \u201cpropaganda\u201d and \u201cmisinformation\u201d.<\/p>\n Any effort to institute some sort of \u201ctruth police\u201d would take us significantly down the road to totalitarianism, but apparently that is what Franken wants.\u00a0 In fact, he is openly suggesting that it is time for\u00a0government regulators to step in<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n Instead of simply trusting the big tech companies to police how their services are being used and abused,\u00a0Franken suggested that regulators need to step in<\/strong>. Lawmakers should take a closer look at the influence technology plays in the everyday lives of Americans by conducting \u201cvigorous oversight in the form of investigations and hearings to fully understand current practices and the potential for harm,\u201d the Minnesota senator said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m hopeful that recent events will encourage regulators, as well as a broader contingent of my colleagues \u2014 on both sides of the aisle \u2014 to give this issue the attention it deserves,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So once government regulators begin regulating speech on the Internet, where will it end?<\/p>\n Will everything that we do on the Internet have to be evaluated for \u201ctruthiness\u201d before it is allowed to be posted?<\/p>\n And who decides what the \u201ctruth\u201d actually is?<\/p>\n I am a big believer in the marketplace of ideas.\u00a0 I have always been convinced that if everyone is allowed to openly share what they believe that the truth will win in the end.<\/p>\n Of course the elite are scared of the free exchange of ideas, because that gives the people way too much control over their own destiny.\u00a0 Prior to the Internet age, they were\u00a0always in control of the flow of information in our society<\/a>, but now things have changed dramatically.<\/p>\n They desperately want to get control of the Internet, because they want things to go back to the way that they used to be.\u00a0 But we can\u2019t allow that to happen, and so we must greatly resist any attempts to regulate speech on the Internet.<\/p>\n