Decentralize or Die

Last week, Agent Orange was deplatformed from Twitter, his weapon of choice. Few people would argue against this decision given how the events at the Capitol played out a few weeks ago. Trump is viewed as the culprit for that situation so deplatforming him seemed like the way to go. However, this has set a terrible precedent that is being looked over. Along with the deplatforming binge, some 70,000 accounts associated with far right conspiracy theory group QAnon were suspended and “free speech paradise” Parler was banned from popular App Stores and Amazon web services stopped hosting it. Since most people cheered these actions, that gives Big Tech the green light to blackball anyone who opposes them. We’re headed for some dark times if Big Tech is allowed to wield its power at will.

Whether we like it or not, social media platforms are apart of most of our lives. We run businesses on them, share information and of course pass along memes. Free speech will be an ancient relic of the past if Big Tech is allowed to silence its opposition. We are slowly headed toward fascism in AmeriKKKa if we’re are not “allowed” to express ourselves freely. If the president of the US can be effectively silenced, what does that mean for the rest of us? The world we know is crumbling and what will replace it will be unfavorable to say the least.

Decentralization is necessary now more than ever. Across many different industries (banking, food, media, housing, etc) we are slowly seeing the consolidation of power and resources into the hands of very few. This may not seem to spell doom at first glance, but the hands that control the things we need ultimately can call the shots. Even when this power is in the hands of elected officials it’s a problem. However, when it’s in the hands of private corporations, whose power is not governed by the constitution, it’s exponentially more dangerous.