Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/10/23/senate-panel-to-grill-facebook-twitter-ceos-on-anti-conservative-bias-because-they-blocked-hunter-biden-laptop-disinfo-stories.html
…
2 Likes
While they’re at it, why don’t they subpoena Jesus and Reality.
28 Likes
Ah man, and after Facebook went to all that trouble to deliberately throttle traffic to left-wing news organizations in order to cozy up to reactionaries - they just can’t win! I guess they’re going to have to bring back the Holocaust denial to even things out.
19 Likes
If only the Senate could spend time doing something with McConnell’s legislative graveyard rather than wasting taxpayer dollars on this bullshit.
22 Likes
I’m sorry, isn’t this the party of free speech for corporations? By their own philosophy Twitter and Facebook can censor whoever the hell they want.
(Not that pointing out republican hypocrisy ever does anything)
21 Likes
Simple solution: Twitter and Facebook need to change their slogan to “fair and balanced”.
10 Likes
If anyone was curious about why all of the tech companies are leery about being the grand censors of the world, as so many people are demanding, getting dragged into the Senate like this is the answer. Companies might be able to buy some politicians, but politicians are also one of the few things that can hurt a company like Facebook. Government, and the US government in particular, still has the biggest and scariest guns, which means that they make the rules, and everyone more or less follows the (enforced) rules.
That said, I don’t think Facebook has anything to worry about for Republicans. I am pretty skeptical that Republicans can come up with a policy solution for this that is any better than their imaginary and indescribable health care plan. They are just making a bunch of noise, but even if they still had power, they wouldn’t know what to with it. Actual real world policy is basically dead in the Republican party these days.
5 Likes
Well, we already know that “Reality has a decidedly pro-liberal bias”, right? 
4 Likes
This. Someone could theoretically similarly question Sinclair, Fox and OAN for their anti-liberal bias. Or explore the anti-liberal bias at Koch industries.
9 Likes
No such recitence (or in some cases squeamishness) in covering the story here in Oz. Or rather, the story behind the story.
“The story falls over in the first paragraph. As mentioned earlier, the prosecutor was not investigating Burisma.”
So when you dig into it, it’s not like Giuliani has busted someone with their hands down their pants and only the irresponsible would share it.
1 Like
Not saying they aren’t already in the conversation and susceptible for all the political tricks, deceptions, hacks and all that, but I’m starting to wonder if the social media companies are the new Abortion.
I’m not sure it would come to that. Reactionaries know full well that the social media companies as they are presently structured are essential for spreading their own agenda. I speculate it will wind up with an informal agreement along the lines of, “Mark, sweetheart, we’re all billionaires here. Throw in with us and throttle the lefties. You get even richer than you are now and we don’t cause you any grief. Liberals don’t bring in that big advertising dough, you know,. we do. Come on, whaddaya say?”
I hope the CEOs turn it into a spectacle on how the Senate has been completely taken by a Russian disinformation campaign.
2 Likes
So in the end all we have is Guiliani admitting to possessing a hard drive full of kiddie porn.
1 Like
What I would like to see:
$CEO strides to the podium, followed by a minion who is distributing AA batteries to the Trumpanzees on the panel.
$CEO says: “Gentlemen, these batteries are for your Bullshit Detectors. They obviously aren’t working, so replace the batteries, & make sure they are turned on, henceforth. If you still cannot distinguish Fantasy from Reality after that, then, well…”
$CEO shrugs, walks out, followed by the minion.
2 Likes
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
