Bring It

tl;dr: I’m glad they’re openly attacking us now. They’ve finally declared open war, and that is where we shine.

 

Out of the Shadows

I woke up this morning and realized that I’m glad they’re driving us off their platforms. Now they can’t shadow-ban us. Which means now they don’t have a way to say “Well, he’s not actually that popular, see?” They can’t demonetize us anymore because most of us are crowd-sourcing. We’re finally voting with our money, which means their money-votes don’t carry the only weight anymore.

 

Their Mistake

Bill Whittle did a video about Google’s ledger. You know, the one where they attempt to alter our behavior by what they show us? That video scared the hell out of me, because it rang of truth. If they could modify our behavior on an undetectable level, and slowly and gently pick and prune and trim back the behaviors they don’t like, they’d breed us for servitude. What’s worse is, it’s a hell of a lot harder to prove. It’s insidious and makes anyone who recognize what it means sound like a nutjob until it’s far, far too late.

 

But by driving us off their platforms and bullying their competitors, they’re giving up that power. By tipping their hand, they’re showing their fangs while we’re still able to jump out of reach. We’re not cornered yet. They’re striking too soon. Thanks to Trump, they can’t help but strike too soon. Trump showed us we’re not nutjobs. Trump validated our fears. He showed us we’re not paranoid – and that gave us the courage to jump.

 

The Ban Heard ‘Round the World

Twitter banning Trump permanently and Facebook following suit is the first sound of gunfire. Before, it was knives in the back or poison in our food. Now there’s actual gunfire. Every ban is like a bullet taking out another of our patriots. Twitter and Facebook led the charge of the enemy forces, and there’s open fire.

 

Their mistake is that that’s our language. We understand open war. When they openly fire upon us, we are in our element. When they drop bombs on us, we know what to do. We are so much better prepared for open warfare than the poison of “old-fashioned ideals,” “conspiracy theorists,” shadow banning, or blackmail or whatever else they’ve used to pin us down.

 

First Blood

They’ve drawn first blood, and to be honest, this first wave is a rout. We were in their territory (Twitter, Facebook). We fled to Parler, but that was bombed out by Amazon. We are damned lucky that places like Rumble, Gab, and Mewe are still up. We are damned lucky that VPNs and encrypted communications exist. We are damned lucky we have places to run to. They’re a bit clunky, because we built them before we needed them. We need to be ready to shore them up against the second wave of attacks.

 

Second Wave

Kicking us off their territory was the first wave, and probably the easiest wave for them. But they have lawfare on their side, too. Parler is trying to get back up and running, but it may take weeks or months, rather than the week that the CEO is talking about. Gab and Rumble might be experiencing a growth spurt now, but the enemy can invent lawsuits out of nothing, and if we aren’t prepared or simply don’t have the resources, they can sue these refuges out of existence too. They’ll weaponize the law, and it may even hurt worse than this first wave because to people unprepared to fight a war, it will feel like kicking us while we’re down.

 

Our Territory

Remember, though: we came late to the social media party. Our political pundits only went there because “everyone else was there.” And, arguably, we were in a better position outside of the Big Tech bubble. Our own independent blogs. Our own social spheres. Our own lawns. We didn’t need them before, and I think we’ll find that we really don’t need them now, either.

 

Sure, it’ll be harder for the startups to get rolling. But Mr. Whittle didn’t get started on Facebook. Rush Limbaugh wasn’t sponsored by Twitter. If they take down Gab and Rumble, some other site will pop up. And another. And another. It’ll be a delightful game of whack-a-mole. And if we end up in a decentralized blogosphere, they’ll have an easier time taking down the whole internet than quashing us all.

 

We don’t need Facebook. The world existed without Twitter. We’re finding ways to get outside of the Google bubble. The guy who broke his internet blocking Google should be a pioneer, not a cautionary tale.

 

Our Arsenal

 We still have to be prepared, though. Arm yourself with privacy-driven services. Your new handgun is a tracker-free browser. Your new rifle is a VPN. Your new ammo shop is a trusted news source. If you think I’m being silly using weapon analogies, remember, they are shields. They are the shields we use to defend ourselves.

 

Use them to call/email/message your representatives. Let them know what you think. Let your voices drown out those of the Anti-Americans. If you aren’t sure what to say or to write, send them a link to an article or blog. Share what you see with them. The more of us share our perspectives and how we feel, the more they’ll have to recognize us and what we want.

 

The Best Part

Remember how they make their money. Their hosting is all free to users. So where do they get their money?

Ads.

And the more they destroy their own userbases through toxicity or outright banning, the fewer eyeballs they can sell to advertisers.

They might turn to government subsidies. They might make us pay for their failing companies. Just like mainstream media.

 

Until we take office and tear them apart.