The 2020 election is bringing a collapse to both cable news, where viewers are leaving in such numbers that Fox’s PR flack has gotten all stompy-feet with us over our reporting on the subject (read Fox News Decides to Fully Set Themselves on Fire as Ratings Collapse). More on how Fox has become just another left-wing media outlet here:
Fox News’ Ratings Reach Dumpster Fire Territory
Wonder What Happened to ‘Judge Jeanine’ Saturday Night? Fox News Suspended Her Show Over Trump
Fox Finally Acknowledges They Stepped In It With Wrong Call on Election Night
Fox News Moves Left and a New PR Firm Is Only Part of the Reason Behind the Shift
Fox News Not Only Messed Up on Arizona, They Also Made This Huge Screw Up Election Night
It is also starting a shakeout in social media. A steady stream of users is abandoning the fascist-run Facebook and YouTube in favor of outlets where you cannot be silenced for disagreeing with the Democrat party. Perhaps the one with the most buzz, though, it Parler. Parler is essentially Twitter, but without the fascist overtones, and because of the oppressive way in which Twitter policed political speech during the election, many people are leaving it for Parler.
The degree to which Parler poses a threat to the left is made clear by the attacks being launched upon it. My colleague Kira Davis has posted on the effort of some clown called Dave Troy, who bills himself as a “disinformation specialist,” I kid you not, to portray Parler as a Russian operation and Dan Bongino, by extension, as a Russian agent of influence. Read Unhinged: Analyst Furious With Parler Success Links Dan Bongino to Russian Disinformation.
Were it just some guy who thinks giving TED Talks means he knows his ass from a hot rock shooting his mouth off, we could ignore it. My totally unsolicited advice to this Dave Troy creature would be to find out what happened to the Christic Institute when they started weaving unsupported conspiracy theories tying various figures in the Iran Contra affair to the rise of the use of crack cocaine in the US. Literally, no one Troy is libeling and slandering would qualify as a public figure.
Another front of the attack on Parler opened on CNN.
Today, Tater, half of CNN’s Tater & OIllie Show, when on a rampage about conservatives leaving Twitter.
.@brianstelter: "Conservatives are saying they're leaving Twitter and Facebook going off to Parler because they believe Parler is a safer space for them.
What we're seeing is even more of a bunker mentality in right-wing media."@PamelaBrownCNN: "It's a threat to democracy." pic.twitter.com/0hNiJi52Mk
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) November 14, 2020
Though this is much more fun to watch:
CNN says conservatives joining Twitter alternative @parler_app (which allows free speech) is a "threat to Democracy" 😂 pic.twitter.com/Sty4I6D6sq
— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) November 13, 2020
This is signaling that the media and the tech giants that do not want you to think or say anything that does not have corporate approval have decided that Parler is a threat to their ability to control speech. They don’t intend to take this threat lying down. The labeling of Parler as a foreign intelligence operation and a threat to public safety is no accident. It is a prelude to the same parties’ effort to have the Parler app removed from the Play Store and Apple Store and other sources of smartphone and tablet apps. If you can’t access Parler easily, it is no longer a threat.
This concerted assault on Parler is not going to be proof that the libertarian fringe of the conservative movement was wrong in their frequently voiced theory, “if you don’t like Twitter, just build your own social network,” was wrong. This is not about business competition. This is about social control. This is about limiting the information and viewpoints that are available to Americans to fundamentally change the national norms into something more like what is found inNorth Korea or Communist China.
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