Twitter, Google, Facebook, and others are frequently guilty of leftwing bias in their treatment of comments, internet searches, and publication of content in general, for which behavior they are frequently denounced as guilty of “censorship.”
Actually,
while private individuals and companies can do intellectually detestable things,
they cannot commit censorship. Censorship is possible only when a writer or speaker
has the agreement of the owner of a publishing venue to present his ideas.
If he has
that agreement and is stopped from presenting his ideas by the government, or
by private individuals acting with the sanction of the government, such as disrupters
whom the police refuse to arrest preventing him from being heard, then there is
censorship.
To make the
same point in different words, if the detestable New York Times refuses of publish
me, or even acknowledge my existence, that is not censorship. Censorship exists
if they were willing to publish me but were stopped by the government or a government-sanctioned
gang.
The way
to deal with Twitter et al. is by means of one or more counter websites that are
willing to publish what Twitter et al. hide. This would both deprive them of any
ability to block content and also seriously tarnish their reputations if they
did not change their behavior.
There are
many concrete problems that would need to be worked out in launching such a website.
But here’s a possible name and a slogan for one such site: “Can’t find what you’re
looking for in Google? Try ‘Second Search.’ We feature what Google hides.”
The problems
in starting such a website are numerous and large. But they do not include
having to compete across the board with the leftist sites. The area of
competition is only where the leftist sites are guilty of intellectual
dishonesty.
