Pamela Geller on leftist social media censorship: “They mean to cut off everything from those who are working in defense of the free and the brave”
The freedom of speech is under strenuous attack. This is not just about me. If I am silenced, a dangerous precedent will be set that people can be denied access to the means of communications if their views aren’t acceptable to the elites. This would mean the end of a free society in the U.S. Every American should care about this. There is nowhere to flee, nowhere else to go.
“Stifling free speech, one Pamela Geller-Robert Spencer-Michael Savage at a time,” by Cheryl K. Chumley, Washington Times, September 12, 2017:
Conservatives of the country, take note: Voices are being squelched. Viewpoints are being stifled. Free thinking is being vilified. The First Amendment is being choked.
And it’s all being brought about by a leftist’s favorite tool — controlling in the name of protecting.
The left’s logic goes this way: “Free speech is good, but it has limits.” Or, “We believe in free speech — of course, we believe in the freedom of speech. But some speech is harmful and hateful and hurtful.”
It’s the type of logic that gets Milo Yiannopoulos banned from taxpayer-funded university speaking podiums. It’s also the type of logic that lets thugs masquerade as righteous protesters, and set things on fire, like buildings and police cars, ‘cause their snowflake sensibilities get offended.
It’s spreading.
It’s making massive inroads in the private sector, most noticeably perhaps online, in social media.
“My website and posts have been scrubbed from Google search,” said author, speaker and activist Pamela Geller, explaining in an email how her American Freedom Defense Initiative and Atlas Shrugs sites, aimed at revealing the truths of Islam, were also recently booted from PayPal and Pinterest. Why?
As PayPalexplained [sic] in an email to Geller: “We have recently reviewed your usage of PayPal’s services … [and] due to the nature of your activities, we have chosen to discontinue service to you. … We ask that you please remove all references to PayPal from your website. This includes removing PayPal as a payment option, as well as the PayPal logo and/or shopping cart.”
PayPay [sic], following an outcry from Geller’s readers, reversed its decision.
Small victory.
Geller still faces this: “Google Adsense has banned my account. YouTube demonetized all of my videos. My Twitter account has been shadow-banned,” she wrote in her email.
A shadow-ban is when hashtags only show up in the feeds of existing followers — an occurrence that then restricts the ability of the account holder to grow and expand.
Geller’s not alone on that.
“I’m shadow-banned on Facebook and Twitter,” said Robert Spencer, an author who’s written extensively about Islam and jihad and who serves as director of the online Jihad Watch.
In an email, he said: “In mid-February, my referrals from each one dropped off by 90 percent, and have never recovered. Twitter has flagged several of my tweets as ‘hateful,’ including one in which I said, accurately, that Islam is not a religion of peace.”
Spencer’s facing his own shenanigans from Google.
“Google,” he said, “has altered its search results to give only results favorable to Islam, so while for years one searched for ‘jihad’ and got Jihad Watch as the first result, based on content and size of readership, now it doesn’t even come in on the first page.”
YouTube, meanwhile, has also removed a playlist of “Robert Spencer” videos, he said.
It’s alarming, yes? We’re talking about attacks on free thought here — but we’re also talking about attacks on livelihoods.
Geller and Spencer, in part, earn their livings on social media backs.
“The left is trying to use Charlottesville as its Reichstag Fire moment — a chance to shut down all dissent,” Spencer said. “The Southern Poverty Law Center’s spurious and politically biased ‘hate group’ list became the linchpin of this effort, and that’s when I was banned from PayPal.”
Like Geller‘s, Spencer’s PayPal ban was reversed — but only after supporters raised substantial outcry.
And again: That’s just one small victory.
The onslaught against free speech is growing wider as we speak.
“Twitter Bans Activist Mommy for Tweeting Her Dislike of Teen Vogue’s Anal Sex Guide,” blasted one recent PJ Media headline, in a story about Elizabeth Johnston, “The Activist Mommy,” also known as @activistmommy1 on Twitter, who dared to criticize the digital editorial director of Teen Vogue, for allowing for the publication of a guide on anal sex.
Her tweet wasn’t even that controversial.
“Congrats Phillip!” she tweeted in mid-August, to editor Phillip Picardi. “A sodomite mag just awarded you for teaching kids sodomy. Way to recruit there @TheAdvocateMag!”
YouTube, owned by the same Alphabet company that owns Google, then cut Johnston’s ability to monetize her videos. Geller, Spencer, now Johnston — that’s starting to seem par for the course. But as PJ Media wrote on Johnston’s plight: “This one falls under ‘too stupid to believe,’ but it’s actually true. … While Johnston’s posts and views are controversial to some, none of what she has to say is new. Her views on homosexuality come from the best-selling book in the world — the Bible.”
Note to social media self: No comments critical of Islam. No remarks based on biblical teachings. Got it.
Geller suggests the left, “awash in funding,” is on rampage to kill all dissent. And if they can’t get the government to do it, well then, there’s always the private biz world — at least the private business ventures that are headed by similarly minded leftists.
“They mean to cut off everything from those who are working in defense of the free and the brave,” she said. “The left elites control the cultural apparatus in this country — media, movies, entertainment, academia, etc. There was one place that was free and unfettered — the Internet. Consequently, they blame social media and Internet sites for Trump’s victory and the continuing opposition to jihad and sharia. So, they mean to shut us down. Totalitarianism cloaked in ‘hate speech’ restrictions, and ‘tolerance.’ “…
“The freedom of speech is under strenuous attack,” Geller said. “This is not just about me. If I am silenced, a dangerous precedent will be set that people can be denied access to the means of communications if their views aren’t acceptable to the elites. This would mean the end of a free society in the U.S. Every American should care about this. There is nowhere to flee, nowhere else to go.”…
First comes Geller and Spencer. Then, the Mommy Activist, and Savage. Next? Patriots, beware. We shouldn’t wait for the answer on that. It will mean it’s too late.
