Heritage Foundation Defends Facebook’s ‘Right’ to Censor, Will Oppose Regulation

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The spineless, gutless, useless right. Yes, of course Facebook is a private company. But it is also a monopoly, and it has more power over the means of communication today than any totalitarian government ever had.

Having been one of the early targets of social media censorship on Facebook, YouTube et al, I have advocated for anti-trust action against these bullying behemoths. Facebook and Google take in roughly half of all Internet ad revenue. Both companies routinely censor and spy on their customers, “massaging everything from the daily news to what we should buy.”

In the last century, the telephone was our “computer,” and Ma Bell was how we communicated. That said, would the American people (or the government) have tolerated ATT spying on our phone calls and then pulling our communication privileges if we expressed dissenting opinions? That is exactly what we are suffering today.

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Ma Bell was broken up by the government, albeit for different reasons. But it can and should be done. I am not interested in their revenue as much as insuring our rights, our First Amendment rights. Heritage should be supporting those rights. Instead, this.

“Heritage Foundation Defends Facebook’s ‘Right’ to Censor, Will Oppose Regulation,” by Allum Bokhari, Breitbart, May 3, 2018:

The Heritage Foundation will defend Facebook’s legal right as a “private company” to censor content and will oppose attempts to regulate the tech giant, according to the think tank’s senior research fellow for technology, Klon Kitchen.

In an interview with Breitbart News, Kitchen argued that as a private company, Facebook has the right to censor content at will, although he strongly cautioned the social network against a censorious approach.

“I think Facebook is a private company,” said Kitchen, a former national security adviser to Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE). “Facebook can ultimately make decisions about what kind of speech it wants to have on its platform.”

“I think it is better for consumers and the American people to have as free a space for open dialogue and diversity of viewpoints as possible. … But they’re a private company, and the Heritage Foundation is going to be very clear about a private company’s right to organize and conduct its business as it sees fit.”

Kitchen disagreed with the view that platforms like Facebook and Google are special cases due to their dominant position in the marketplace and their unprecedented influence over news and politics, which includes the power to sway undecided voters by up to 80 percent, and boost voter registration by significant margins among targeted users.

“I think it’s clear that they challenge traditional understandings of all those things, but I don’t think it rises to the level of government regulating how they conduct their business or constraining them in other ways.”

“I think right now, we have free speech on these platforms,” said Kitchen. “Just about any political view that you want to have, you can get on these platforms. They certainly have community standards.”

Kitchen praised Facebook for its “receptiveness” to conservative outreach.

“That doesn’t mean that we agree with everything or that there’s been total transparency or decisive answers on all of our questions; this Senator Kyl [audit] is a recognition that there are some unanswered questions. But in terms of their response to us and their professionalism, they’ve been nothing but top notch.”

Today, Axios reported that The Heritage Foundation was involved with Facebook’s political bias review, conducted using employees of Eric Holder’s law firm, led by former Republican Senate Whip Jon Kyl. Kitchen said the report was a “misstatement” and that Heritage has set up off-the-record meetings between conservative tech policy experts and Facebook under its own initiative, without being prompted by the social network.

Kitchen indicated that The Heritage Foundation will adopt a wait-and-see approach regarding Facebook’s stated commitment to address censorship on the platform, saying it “remains to be seen” if Facebook is serious about the matter.

“I hope they’re serious,” said Kitchen. “They’ve given every indication that they are. How this audit goes forward, what the findings are, [and] what their response to the findings are will determine if they’re serious.”

In addition to censorship, Kitchen agreed that Facebook’s changes to its newsfeed algorithm and its plan to rank news sources by “trustworthiness” are areas of concern.

“The shift to the algorithm … is a political black box,” said Kitchen. “I don’t think people understand it. Some popular websites and news sources and aggregators on both sides of the aisle have expressed concerns about the impact of that algorithm change. Heritage would want to know more about how the algorithm works and why the effects of the algorithm are what they are.”…

Despite these suggestions for improvement on Facebook’s part, Kitchen praised the social network for its “granular” and “technical” approach to enforcing “hate speech” rules on American users.

“One of the points that the company made, which bears at least consideration, is that they’ve gone so granular. They’ve tried to be so technical as an act of preventing or mitigating bias, taking as much of the subjectivity out of it and injecting a logical rationale for individual choices on the removal of content.”

Kitchen declined to take a position on whether it’s “good or bad” for Facebook to impose European-style “hate speech” norms on American citizens, but he said it is, ultimately, “[Facebook’s] decision to make.”

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AlgorithmicAnalystD
AlgorithmicAnalyst
5 years ago

Algorithms are very powerful 🙂

Achmed Mohandjob
Achmed Mohandjob
5 years ago

Hello, AlgorithmicAnalyst. If anyone should know …

ahem
ahem
5 years ago

Heritage is right: a private company is under no obligation to provide equal service to everyone. That’s also why the penalties against Christian bakers refusing to make cakes for homosexuals is so outrageous and wrong—they’re private companies and should have the right to determine their own business model. Do you really want to give up the right for a private business to control itself? I don’t think so.

That said, social media is now so pervasive and influential that the government should either declare Facebook and Twitter public utilities so that they have to support the First Amendment or establish comparable public utilities that do so.

Dean
Dean
5 years ago
Reply to  ahem

OK BUT will Heritage support taking away, in the same constitutional spirit, their government endowed exemption from liability for civil actions like defamation under the representation that they are a NEUTRAL FORUM? If FB is deciding what can be said on their forum and who can say it, they aren’t neutral and should be liable for every entity they “allow” to use this forum to defame, invade privacy and do other harm to individuals through this forum. However, if it is a “neutral forum” and have become a pervasively monopolistic public forum, why aren’t they subject to the same anti trust laws, and anti CENSORSHIP REGULATIONS that have already been used to regulate other monopolies? In other words they have become a PUBLIC UTILITY if they are a monopoly that offers a NEUTRAL PUBLIC FORUM. IF NOT THEY SHOULDN’T HAVE GOVT PROTECTION FROM CIVIL LIABILITY. I agree with the private censorship position entirely but FB can no long claim that definition when they hide from the liability they would normally have as just a PRIVATE COMPANY.

Harrie Mossel
Harrie Mossel
5 years ago
Reply to  ahem

You are right, private organizations are under no obligation to provide equal services to everyone.
As far as I am concerned, there is life without Facebook and other social media.
And indeed: punishing christian bakers for refusing to make cakes for gay weddings is ridiculous and the attitude of those gays trying to force them to make their wedding cakes is idiotic as well (why should you patronize a business that doesn’t like you or your life style?), this attitude is tantamount to blacks wanting to be admitted as members of the KKK and sueing this organization for refusing the application!
I don’t like FB, it’s an addicting waste of time, therefore I won’t join it. The same applies to churches, clubs, organizations, etc. As a Jew, I would never try to become a member of a muslim football team…
Gays have the option to use the services of gay friendly bakers and other enterprises!

aemoreira1981
aemoreira1981
5 years ago

Regulation can only lead to a dangerous slippery slope. I’d rather not go down that path.

R. Arandas
R. Arandas
5 years ago
Reply to  aemoreira1981

Facebook and Google, the tech giants, have amassed far too much power and societal influence though, they know almost everything about you, your family and your personal life and beliefs. There should be some limits at least, for the greater good.

Besides, both are themselves actively attempting to “regulate” free speech.

MAS
MAS
5 years ago

Until they are forcing consumers to use only their services the abuse victims are all volunteers. The question is do we want a free market or more government regulation? Refuse to use Facebook and Google, you won’t die without them. Until enough people do this they’ll continue as they are…

Dick Bates
Dick Bates
5 years ago
Reply to  MAS

Go to Mewe.com

MAS
MAS
5 years ago
Reply to  Dick Bates

I wasn’t drawn to Facebook in the first place. What was for dinner or my cute dog photos aren’t really that compelling. No need for Mewe either…

Joy Daniels Brower
Joy Daniels Brower
5 years ago

Once again, I have to tip my hat to Pam Geller for alerting all of us to the “swampization” that has transformed the once-reliable Heritage Foundation into the institutional wimp that it has become. Actually, I became somewhat disillusioned with Heritage a few years ago, as the solicitations crammed my snail mail and email in-boxes, and they seemed just a wee bit too smug and “Washingtonian” (as in, “Swamp!”) for my taste. But their now taking this indefensible stand to protect Facecrap and Zuckerface is too much by a country mile!! Hereafter, I will cancel all my (actually very modest) contributions to Heritage and deep-six – without opening! – all their solicitations and “members’ surveys!” Thanks once again, Pamela, for looking out for us and alerting us to all the political snakes in our societal grass!!

felix1999
felix1999
5 years ago

Heritage Foundation is nothing more than an OLD establishment shill for the elites. Remember James DeMint? He used to head the Heritage Foundation TILL it became known there that he agreed with Trump. So a vote was held and he was voted OUT as President. DeMint was a Tea Party guy. HE was unsuccessful in changing the stodgy establishment driven foundation that continues to betray real conservative.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/05/02/jim-demint-ousted-heritage-foundation/101220722/

I am NOT surprised they are not concerned about censorship.
They are a SWAMP agenda pushing foundation.

Joy Daniels Brower
Joy Daniels Brower
5 years ago
Reply to  felix1999

Thanks for reminding me about Jim DeMint, former President of Heritage. Yes, under his direction, it still had Conservative bona fides, but I was NOT aware that he had been booted by his ugly swamp-dwelling colleagues!! I’m sure that Trump – even with all his successful & grandiose schemes and projects – never envisioned that one day he would end up being the Conservative symbol of “resistance!!” God does, indeed, “work in mysterious ways!”

b. clipperton
b. clipperton
5 years ago

screw fb i pulled my account and gave zuckerfuck the middle finger….lol

Alleged-Comment
Alleged-Comment
5 years ago

So, there is no other better platform? I think that is the arrogance of F*kebook. Copy them and make another platform.

taxpayer22
taxpayer22
5 years ago

Another RINO organization that specializes in LOSING.

felix1999
felix1999
5 years ago
Reply to  taxpayer22

YUP!
I’d bet they were promised a BIG DONATION.
The Heritage Foundation is nothing more than a swamp shill organization pining away for the status quo and the establishment.

Suresh
Suresh
5 years ago
Reply to  taxpayer22

Agree. And the first Muslim democrat president imported 200,000 legal and illegal muslims and
deported christians back to ISIS to be slaughtered after they tried to male it to America http://tinyurl.com/mtc3xch

And those who dared to help were threatened to shut up and MSM would not cover it !

None of the “conservatives” stood up to defend xian refugees. Just shows how crooked they are.

Dick Bates
Dick Bates
5 years ago

Pam , my dear lady , please join the class action lawsuit against facesuck @ : Blood , Hurst , &
O’Reardon , LLP .619-338-1100
LET’S GET SUCKERBERG !

Dick Bates
Dick Bates
5 years ago
Reply to  Dick Bates

And move to Mewe.com !

Mark Steiner
Mark Steiner
5 years ago

Someone paid off here?

Can’t take the heat – so get out of the Kitchen.

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