Tag Archives: Censorship

You’re Living in a Different World Than Everyone Else

By Rob Meyne

  • May 20, 2023
  • 4-min read

If you ever feel like you are living in a different world than your friends, neighbors, or work mates, it is because you are. We may reside on the same planet, but the specifics that make up our “worlds” are distinct in infinite ways.

Our opinions on political issues are often in conflict because they are based on a completely different understanding of the facts. It is hard to overstate how much this contributes to national division.

Constructive policy can be developed through collaboration and compromise. But it is difficult to do that when you don’t even agree on the facts. Since we’re not making decisions based on a common, agreed upon set of data, it is inevitable there will be huge disagreements.

A variety of dynamic factors have led to this.

For one, the way we get information has changed more dramatically in the past two decades than at any time since a guy named Guttenberg was doing his thing. Newspapers, broadcast TV, and radio are still around, but their influence is waning. Cable and streaming services exert tremendous influence, as do podcasts, social media, and various subscription services.

Mainstream “corporate” media is still powerful, but its role has been largely usurped by digital communications that are accessible wirelessly. This diversification in communications – the way information is conveyed – is unprecedented and getting more complex.

Two, governmental agencies, mainstream media, tech companies, political organizations, and NGOs are very good at coordinating their activities, suppressing speech, and promoting only those messages that meet their preferred narratives. If you don’t believe this, spend ten minutes looking at the “Twitter Files.” It is no longer deniable that the CIA, FBI, and even the Democratic National Committee are able to censor stories on Twitter and other platforms on an ongoing basis.

As artificial intelligence gets more pervasive, it will become the source of editorial direction that impacts everything we see. It will make it easier to censor even accurate information long before it has a chance to enter your newsfeed or inbox.

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Media Bias Threatens Our Republic

By Rob Meyne

  • April 12, 2022
  • 3-min read

There are countless times, in any given day, you are likely to hear references to “two Americas.” Depending on the speaker, issue, and occasion, one person may not even be picturing the same two Americas as another.

Americans get their information from different sources and in ways that didn’t exist not that long ago. Whatever you presume to be a “fact” depends on where you get news, who you trust, and what they believe.

People also believe something a friend or family member tells them more easily than information from another source. Whether it is true has nothing to do with it. Countless Americans think Donald Trump said, “Nazis and white supremacists are fine people” or that a new bill in Florida prohibits people from saying the word “gay,” or that Republican-sponsored state laws restrict voting rights of black Americans. None of these three beliefs is true. But people have heard it and assume it is true.

The digital age has increased the amount of information we can access, but its reliability isn’t what it once was. Most people don’t have the time, interest, or expertise to check key facts in every story they come across. It is understandable. People are busy.

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“Fakebook” is Determined to
Destroy Free Speech

By Rob Meyne

  • Nov. 27, 2021
  • 3-min read

We recently heard a story of a Chinese national who was discussing the news media. She said most Chinese people are surprised at how many Americans continue to pay attention to the mainstream media.

She said nearly all Chinese (clearly an opinion, not necessarily provable) simply don’t pay attention to their media. They understand it is all useless and biased information, controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

Of course, they are right. All Chinese media, as well as corporations and local governments, are controlled by the CCP. Nothing of significance happens in China that isn’t approved of, or directed by, the Party.

As she observed, mainstream American media also effectively follow the “Party line.” It is barely more objective than Chinese media. The exact method by which the American media is controlled differs from China, but the effect does not. It is difficult, bordering on impossible, for reporters or editors in the U. S. today to report news, or express opinion, that differs from the narratives promoted by leftists, Democratic leaders, and corporate media.

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Facebook and Other Social Media Want Governmental Control, Censorship, and Power

By Rob Meyne

  • Oct. 28, 2021
  • 2-min read

Those who value our freedoms, above other political priorities, generally consider speech as the most important of them all. There is good reason for this.

People who are well-informed, open to different points of view, and even exposed to statements that are at times controversial, tend to make good decisions. Many of our founders expressed faith in the people to make choices that keep the country strong, free, and successful, provided they have access to information and can participate in a free and robust debate.

You don’t hear much from Pelosi and Schumer, for example, celebrating free, open discussions. To the contrary. Pelosi criticized the media last week for not gong more to sell and promote the Democratic agenda. Most observers know most of the media is in the tank for leftists, but most Dem leaders aren’t usually bold enough to openly admit it.

We are now witnessing a coordinated attempt by social media, legacy media, and Democratic leaders to set up national censorship and control of social media. More people get their news today from social media than any other source (God help us). The White House has already bragged that they work directly with social media platforms – Twitter, Facebook/Fakebook, You Tube – to censor posts by private individuals and groups.

The supposed “whistleblower” from Facebook is at the center of the effort.

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Facebook/Fakebook’s Misleading “Whistleblower” Narrative

By Rob Meyne

Fakebook Wants Regulation

  • Oct. 8, 2021
  • 4-min read

If all you do is read the headlines or watch the tv while napping, you miss the most important elements of many stories. This week saw a well-coordinated effort to present a misleading narrative on Facebook/Fakebook. The long-term strategy is to further justify, or even require, censorship by social media. It featured a Facebook executive in a media campaign planned and directed by Bill Burton, the former Obama message maven, and his agency, as outlined here.

Sunday, Sixty Minutes aired a story about a supposed “whistleblower” who discussed internal research by Facebook that revealed damaging information about its business. It raised issues that have received little or no attention from management. Facebook, unsurprisingly, prioritizes profits and power, and has failed to address a number of problematic effects it has on users, notably young people.
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If You’re Ever Going to Defend
Free Speech, The Time is Now

Speech is the foundation of our republic.

Rob Meyne

  • July 19, 2021
  • 4 min read

Of all the criticisms that have been made about me – it is not a short list – no one has ever suggested I am shy about expressing my opinion. It has been said I can walk into an empty room and start an argument. There is probably some truth to that.
However, I will never have to regret I was unwilling to take a stand. No one says “Why won’t Rob just tell us what he thinks?”

Plus, in politics, over-reaction is often the coin of the realm.

Today, we face political developments so damaging to the fabric of our republic that exaggeration is hardly possible. Do you believe the damage being done to our nation, in particular to the First Amendment, is defensible? If so, with all due respect, you are either uninformed, don’t understand the essential role of freedom in our nation, or are actively seeking to bring it down. There are no other options.
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