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Searching ‘Alex Jones’ on DuckDuckGo puts infowars.com right at the top of the search... Same for yahoo.com.

The site doesn’t even appear on Google.

I’ve heard of him and have read some stories about this and that, but I think Apple and these other tech companies are wrong to do this. This now looks like his sites are being obfuscated by the most popular search engine and banned outright by media services, and for me that’s a dangerous precedent...

In order to be able to think, you have to risk being offensive. Sometimes you’re going to listen to things that you’re going to agree with, then other times something you don’t agree with. Intelligent debate will generally root out the wheat from the chaff. It’s possible that this ‘ban’ will just fuel the ‘conspiracy nuts’ into feeling even more targeted.

If Jones is dropped down the deepest, blackest hole imaginable it's a good day for humanity.

Don't care that conspiracy nuts will feel more targeted. I'd rather keep the main group agitated and feeling isolated than give them more company.
 
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Nobody is stopping Alex from hosting his own podcast and video downloads.

He's readily accessible on the net.

Private companies are under no obligation to host, promote or list content they don't care to.

This is a good move by these tech companies that was long overdue.

Alex Jones is complete racist, incendiary trash who hawks BS pseudoscience nonsense disinformation, products and hatred.
 
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You guys literally have no idea what free speech means.

It does not mean:

  • You are owed a platform.
  • You are owed ears.
  • You are allowed to say whatever you want *wherever* you want.
  • You are owed protection from any business that is in business to cater to a healthy, sane society.

The right are such snowflakes. The minute they take a shot, the screaming for safe spaces is deafening.

Oh, and on that note: if you feel we as a society need to protect voices like Alex Jones, I honestly don't care. You're not owed legitimacy or respect for that position.

I wanted to reply to you, but seeing you took over 50% of conversation on this thread to argue your points. You must have cried when Trump won.
 
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Google can, if it wishes remove all of Jones's content (website, podcast etc) and leave no trace of his existence on any trace of his existence on their search engine - if they so choose.
They are a private company. Constitutional chilling of free speech applies only to Congress and they laws they create - not private entities or persons.
Do you think they should?
 
Should we leave ISIS recruitment videos on youtube as well? Everyone can decide for themselves...
That’s a good question. Is infowars responsible for inciting beheading’s and the like? I’m not a frequent visitor of infowars, or his other sites so I’ve no idea. Nor indeed do I search for ISIS vids.

It’s worth remembering though, that if someone is hell bent on searching for something, it can usually be found.
 
The fact that private entities are free to suppress speech is not what I am discussing here.

You are right. Private companies are not capable of suppressing speech - because they are not bound by the confines for which the amendment was ratified.

What Apple did, any private business owner is capable of doing.

If I own a store, and my employee decides to create a sign that says "Homosexuals are the devil" and put it outside of my business, or inside the business window. I can not only fire him/her - but they can't turn around and sue me for suppressing their freedom of speech.

1A was enacted to protect the people of this country from the government. The moment the government prevents you from saying "Donald Trump sucks!" - then we have a problem. It's purpose was to always give the people rights to openly voice their displeasure with their government, without the government retaliating by silencing their "speech". It has no bearing in the private sector.

1A is not to be confused with anti-discrimination laws (most often people do).
 
If Jones is dropped down the deepest, blackest hole imaginable it's a good day for humanity.

Don't care that conspiracy nuts will feel more targeted. I'd rather keep the main group agitated and feeling isolated than give them more company.
Targeted maybe wasn’t the right word. Think more along the lines of them feeling more special to be targeted.

EDIT: And just because something is in the deepest, blackest hole ever, doesn’t mean it can’t be found
 
If Jones is dropped down the deepest, blackest hole imaginable it's a good day for humanity.

Don't care that conspiracy nuts will feel more targeted. I'd rather keep the main group agitated and feeling isolated than give them more company.
You come across as quite hateful. Would you advocate your own banishment from the internet?
 
Searching ‘Alex Jones’ on DuckDuckGo puts infowars.com right at the top of the search... Same for yahoo.com.

The site doesn’t even appear on Google.

I’ve heard of him and have read some stories about this and that, but I think Apple and these other tech companies are wrong to do this. This now looks like his sites are being obfuscated by the most popular search engine and banned outright by media services, and for me that’s a dangerous precedent...

In order to be able to think, you have to risk being offensive. Sometimes you’re going to listen to things that you’re going to agree with, then other times something you don’t agree with. Intelligent debate will generally root out the wheat from the chaff. It’s possible that this ‘ban’ will just fuel the ‘conspiracy nuts’ into feeling even more targeted.

It shows up right under a wikipedia link to him when I search Google. Perhaps you are expecting it to say "Infowars: Official Site" like it does on Bing?
upload_2018-8-6_13-57-8.png
 
I did. I agreed with you, it was a dumb analogy with no application to the conversation.

Wrong. You didn’t agree with me because that simply isn’t what I said. You can’t agree with me on something I didn’t say. You can call it a “dumb analogy” all you want and that’s your prerogative, however silly it may be. But what is indisputable is that *I didn’t say that.* You did.

Simultaneously backing away from your own point and insisting it needs to be answered isn't doing you any favors.

I didn’t “back away” from any point and I’m not looking to curate any favors.

You just keep shouting that this is a censorship issue, regardless of context or fact.

I’m not shouting anything, I’m having a discussion. Fact is precisely what is at issue here. Apple’s actions are, factually, censorship.

That you now have to shoehorn your own NK references

I’m not “shoehorning” anything. Your definition of censorship is wrong and bordering on moronic. The NK example perfectly illustrates why that is the case.

while also stating it's not a good 1:1 should probably give you an idea that you're backing a losing horse.

I mentioned that to preemptively shoot down the silly strawman I knew you would construct, and are continuing to construct in spite of that. Do you have anything of substance to say?
 
Do you think they should?
I can't have my cake and eat it too.

If I wish to retain the freedoms of my business, I must also respect the wishes of Google. It would be irrational of me to demand that Google be forced to allow someone to use their platform (conduct business with them), but in the same breath say I should be free to conduct business with whomever I like and no one can force me to do business with someone....blah blah blah...government of out of my pocket...blah blah blah.

You see how that works?

Personally, I think Google/Apple/(insert any company here) should do whatever they want to promote the values of their business. They can't chill free speech. And no, it's not the same and censorship. Censorship requires regulation. Regulation is enacted by the government. Google/Apple is not the US government.
 
Nobody is stopping Alex from hosting his own podcast and video downloads.

He's readily accessible on the net.

Private companies are under no obligation to host, promote or list content they don't care to.

This is a good move by these tech companies that was long overdue.

Alex Jones is complete racist, incendiary trash who hawks BS pseudoscience nonsense disinformation, products and hatred.
Are you defending this because you really believe in private companies abilities to do as they wish or because you don’t like Alex Jones and the things he says?
 
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Targeted maybe wasn’t the right word. Think more along the lines of them feeling more special to be targeted.

I'm quite certain the group that follows Alex Jones couldn't possibly be more "special" than they already are. ;)

You come across as quite hateful. Would you advocate your own banishment from the internet?

I have no idea why I would come across as hateful when I'm arguing against the guy who said parents lied about their children being murdered.

To answer your question specifically: The mods of this website have every right to silence me at any moment for any reason they see fit. I am not entitled to post here, I have no right to define what I am allowed to post here, and I don't have the right to insist they let me post here.

And yet if for any reason they banned me, it wouldn't be a violation of my freedom of speech.
 
So you fight racism with horribly racist statements? That doesn’t make sense. Anyone who would pursue such a strategy is foolish and has very bad judgment. That is who the NYT hires?

And as pointed out, their forgiveness when it comes to racist statements only extends to people they like.
Again, I don’t believe that reverse racism is a real or concerning thing. She was a victim of racism and fought back in a stupid way. That’s all.
 
I have always been a Tim Cook supporter until now. The suppression of free speech/debate is NEVER healthy. And what exactly are the rules for banishment? Vague concepts like "hate speech" which can be morphed into anything a platform owner wants it to be? This is a VERY slippery slope and it is ironic that the left accuses the right of being "fascists" while THEY actively suppress freedom of word and thought. Hypocrites much?
Bad move Tim. Please stay out of politics.
 
I'm quite certain the group that follows Alex Jones couldn't possibly be more "special" than they already are. ;)



I have no idea why I would come across as hateful when I'm arguing against the guy who said parents lied about their children being murdered.

To answer your question specifically: The mods of this website have every right to silence me at any moment for any reason they see fit. I am not entitled to post here, I have no right to define what I am allowed to post here, and I don't have the right to insist they let me post here.

And yet if for any reason they banned me, it wouldn't be a violation of my freedom of speech.
But I perceive you as being hateful. I call for you to be banned from the internet. Your logic, not mine.
 
More left wing companies removing freedom of speech
[doublepost=1533553428][/doublepost]Im sorry but now days hate speech is speaking out againt the main stream media, right wing youtubers dont always say hate they just speak the truth but are silenced by the left

Sorry man, but it counts as bullying and he should've been removed a long time ago. I have a friend that lost his young daughter in the Sandy Hook Massacre. Alex saying that was fake and that the people involved were acting was beyond disgusting and the worst kind of bullying ever. Glad he's gone. These companies have policies that people have to adhere to. If I invite you into my house, you have the right to say whatever you want, but I also have the right to throw you out.
 
Wrong. You didn’t agree with me because that simply isn’t what I said. You can’t agree with me on something I didn’t say. You can call it a “dumb analogy” all you want and that’s your prerogative, however silly it may be. But what is indisputable is that *I didn’t say that.* You did.



I didn’t “back away” from any point and I’m not looking to curate any favors.



I’m not shouting anything, I’m having a discussion. Fact is precisely what is at issue here. Apple’s actions are, factually, censorship.



I’m not “shoehorning” anything. Your definition of censorship is wrong and bordering on moronic. The NK example perfectly illustrates why that is the case.



I mentioned that to preemptively shoot down the silly strawman I knew you would construct, and are continuing to construct in spite of that. Do you have anything of substance to say?

You're not really arguing anything, or at least not arguing it well. You're just repeating the same bad definition of censorship, only now with terrible analogies that you even agreed were bad thus the reason you admitted you needed to deflect criticism you expected due to said dumb analogies.

Don't get angry that your arguments are picked apart so easily. Make better arguments.
 
I can't have my cake and eat it too.

If I wish to retain the freedoms of my business, I must also respect the wishes of Google. It would be irrational of me to demand that Google be forced to allow someone to use their platform (conduct business with them), but in the same breath say I should be free to conduct business with whomever I like and no one can force me to do business with someone....blah blah blah...government of out of my pocket...blah blah blah.

You see how that works?

Personally, I think Google/Apple/(insert any company here) should do whatever they want to promote the values of their business. They can't chill free speech. And no, it's not the same and censorship. Censorship requires regulation. Regulation is enacted by the government. Google/Apple is not the US government.
I’m just trying to understand how far to take something. If some say it’s a good thing Apple removed Jones’s podcasts from its search directory then why aren’t these same people demanding Google adjust their algorithms so Jones doesn’t show up in searches? Why don’t they demand Twitter shadow ban him? Right now if I type Alex Jones in Twitter’s search his official Twitter account is the first thing that shows up.
 
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