Social Media's Control of Free Thought and Speech
Politics and government is mired with deception and manipulation of the people. Lies are made to sound truthful, and murder is made respectable as the government brings chaos in the guise and appearance of order. That which has no substance is given solidity. Controlling the narrative is what the government and much of the media share in common.
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During the lead up to the invasion of Iraq under the false pretext that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, the mainstream media was toeing the government's (White House, Pentagon, Senate, etc.) narrative about the justification to go start a war. But it was all based on lies. They wanted to do something (invade Iraq), and wanted to make it seem as if there was a real reason to do so (WMDs), and then set out to lie to the American people and the world to justify an invasion.
Social media was thought to be a new avenue for liberty and truth to prosper, where people would be able to connect online and share information about the world. But that dream is dying. Google, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook have been ramping up their control of information that people can access through various forms of censorship. Conservative-leaning, controversial or non-mainstream-accepted alternative topics that are shared by users or sites and often removed from visibility, censored or banned.
YouTube recently started funding "authoritative" news media at the tune of $25 million in order to combat the spread of "fake news" as they call it. There will be "fact-checking" features to advance the mainstream and accepted narratives about all sorts of topics, especially "conspiracy" information about developing news events and stories.
If this were after 9/11, YouTube would be pushing the false media narrative of a justified push to invade Iraq as the "authoritative" "real news", while declaring the other information about the lies of the government's claims as "fake news".
Independent news and information dissemination is under fire. Social media is no longer going to be socially lead, but led by more corporate control over the spread and access to informational content. Free thinking will become more constricted as less people get access to counter-narrative information that can get them to think and question what is true. When everyone is repeating the consensus narrative, that will be the only thing that will be known or talked about. The manufacturing of reality will be almost a done deal, a "fait accompli".
We originally could publish any informational content we wished on social media. Slowly but surely this freedom is being eroded. Challenging the mainstream establishment narrative is being censored. The free flow of information is being stifled, as Google changed it's search algorithms to limit access to certain topics by pushing them off the first page of search results. The Google-owned YouTube will do similar, with changing the way content appears in user's accounts.
Information panels with YouTube-approved official "authoritative" messages about what "really" happened in "developing news stories" will be rolled-out to counter video content that is deemed inaccurate, false or "fake news". Questionable videos such as those about potential false flag attacks, like the Parkland shooting, Sandy Hook, Aurora or any other, will be discredited in favor of pushing the YouTube "verified" content to influence people against looking into something themselves. If a video challenges the official narrative, it will get pushed from visibility, just like Google can do with search results.
Wired wrote about the upcoming changes, saying:
"YouTube is also expanding a feature, currently available in 17 countries, that shows up on the homepage during breaking news events. This section of the homepage will only surface videos from sources YouTube considers authoritative. The same goes for the videos that YouTube recommends viewers watch next."
You're recommended videos won't be the same as they used to be. YouTube will be injecting their own approved videos instead of showing you videos that are speaking about the same thing. Finding the alternative narrative to an event will be more difficult.
The news and information on social media is going to become more about the corporate and establishment "approved" stories they want people to accept. Algorithms will change the access to informational content, and make it harder to notice and get to. Freedom to choose what content we want to access will be restricted, as we have to work harder to get to it. This is a perfect storm for the control of reality through the limitation of access to information.
Fewer people will be exposed to sources of information that can get them to question what the government, media, big pharma or other parts of the established narrative is saying is "real". Wikipedia and other so-called "fact checking" sources will create a consensus-based pseudo-"truth" about controversial topics and lead to a dominated narrative about what is really going on. The total control over the minds of humanity is edging closer to becoming a full realization.
Thank you for your time and attention. Peace.
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Google/YouTube/Facebook can recommend you content and shape your mental beliefs with little transparency and little accountability
Yup, it's subtle yet effective to steer ppl towards certain ideas and ways of thinking.
For sure, these social media and social networking platforms are not working towards the common peoples interest and these platforms eating their rights.
And that's why we need decentralised Platforms like Steemit and Blockchain Technology where information is unaltered.
And if we live in world of Decentralisation for sure people will be rulers and everyone will move forward as an community and whole community will decide what is good for them.
We have to come out of this centralised matrix and we have to move into the world of Decentralisation where we can create our dream world without any domination and false influence.
Wishing you an great day and stay blessed. 🙂
Decentralization has many benefits, but has limited applicability in some ways. We wouldn't want all the Internet on a blockchain, as that is a waste of resources and doesn't help anything really. Sometimes you need control over the data for a project as well. Blockchains like Steem will have huge bloat as they get bigger, with useless spam there forever. But having immutable data is useful ;)
Yes, you are right for sure. But it's just my opinion that we can bring improvements to the Decentralisation because everything is created by the humans and in my opinion we can create more better initiatives than Centralisation because it's all about the idea. Power to people is really important because if power to few happens that few can influence majority as per their will. Stay blessed. 🙂
At the rate we are going, the judicial branch will be prosecuting and ordering monetary compensation against any source that does not uphold the narrative. They did not get the desired results with all the paid violence aimed at conservative candidates/speakers followers so outlawing is the logical next step. They have been brainwashing the masses through media and the centers of dumbed down learning (universities) to view any conservative view that cherishes personal responsibility and accountability as a danger on par with terrorism. The amount so sheeple buying into it is what has had me worried for years.
Yeah, it's nuts how the far-Left is getting about Trump supporters. The most unhinged come from the far-Left I think than the far-Right :/
I've been keeping a close eye on youtube, and it's disturbing.
I no longer get any alternative news +recommended for you+ on my page -but quite a few CNN,BBC, MSNBC....
For me (and you I would imagine), it doesn't change anything - but it DOES offer serious 'walls' for those not as informed..
Yeah, exposure to the info being visible matters, and when it isn't then you don't even have the opportunity to click on it. Steem has that issue with flags too as I recall, or incorrectly. A huge flag will make a post not show when others see it in the list...
All you say it's true. My thought is people only hear that they want hear... and this do not will be that say the "Red Cross", by example.
Yeah, most believe what they want to believe in large part.
The main social media outlets are nothing but functioning propaganda platforms with lots of time and a huge audience. If alternstive platforms do not grow quickly enough, the information war may be lost before it ever really began
Indeed. It gets harder to grow when your visibility gets marginalized and reduced :/
Certainly, just as it is inevitable that unscrupulous people publish pornography and many other degrading content, it will also be inevitable that power elites try to hide news or topics that are adverse.
"While people are clamoring about “economic rights,” the concept of political rights is vanishing. It is forgotten that the right of free speech means the freedom to advocate one’s views and to bear the possible consequences, including disagreement with others, opposition, unpopularity and lack of support. The political function of “the right of free speech” is to protect dissenters and unpopular minorities from forcible suppression — not to guarantee them the support, advantages and rewards of a popularity they have not gained.
The Bill of Rights reads: “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press . . . .” It does not demand that private citizens provide a microphone for the man who advocates their destruction, or a passkey for the burglar who seeks to rob them, or a knife for the murderer who wants to cut their throats."
Ayn Rand, The Virtue of Selfishness, 99
It's an informational War. A war on or our minds. There is an illusion that we have free thought and some of us do. But if they can sensor and manipulate the agenda that we read they will. Shame on them. I am happy for those who are awake and know what's going on. And I feel sorry for all the sheeple out there who do not have a clue. Thanks @krnel
Yes, we're all in a dream of ignorance about how things are until we wake up to want to know how we're being fooled.
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