I’ve been following this blog for a while now as the author
writes well-reasoned articles influenced by her Christian faith. I clicked on
the image, as I do on any image when I want to link to the relevant content,
only to find it did not take me to where I wanted to go. Still in the
Facebook/computer haze I tend to get in when scrolling through the useless in
search of meaning and context, I was forced to pause and consider what was happening.
I read the post and realized the author was unable to share a link to her
website on Facebook.
I had heard a lot of similar claims lately, and have been
more than reluctant to assume something sinister was going on. When you search
beyond the mainstream narrative you come across a lot of people and sites that initially
seem thoughtful and reasonable but soon veer into conspiracy theory and unsubstantiated
assertions. Someone who shared or even wrote a thoughtful and well-researched
article once might quite suddenly end up sharing something about alien lizards
taking over the planet the next. Just like mainstream narratives, you have to
be skeptical about what you read and question what the agenda is of the person
sharing or creating it. There are a lot of kooks out there.
But Tricia Gates Brown, the person behind Theology Of Resistance,
is legit. She has been vetted, at least by me, and I never fully invest myself
entirely in anyone’s narrative and always look for a bias in any news or
information source. Let’s face it, we are all individuals. Nobody is ever going
to agree with me a hundred percent, but there are so very many I can learn
from. And Tricia Gates Brown is one of those people. She is more scripturally
oriented than I am, but I appreciate that. She does more work than I am willing
to do on that front, and for that I consider her not only an honest and
insightful source of information, I consider her a very solid, salt of the
earth person.
Which is why it took so long for the truth to sink in. In
reading what she had shared, I eventually came to understand that she was no
longer able to share links to her blog through Facebook. Wanting to do a solid
for someone I knew to be working hard and doing the right thing, I figured I’d do
the work (not easy, especially compared to what we of the digital age not only
expect but demand) of typing in the url (How many times have you actually done
that in the last year where money wasn’t involved?)
So I posted it on Facebook only to get the message: “Removed
your post because it looked like spam.” And that’s when it hit me. Facebook is
actively engaged in censoring. Facebook is choosing which information I am
allowed to see and what I cannot. Facebook, at the prodding—nay, insistence of
our government—has become the arbiter of what I can and cannot share with my friends
and community.
This might not seem like a big deal to the average person,
but anyone who has been lured in by the “social media marketing” sales pitch
that’s been synonymous with 21st Century marketing will realize how
devastating it can be to someone who is trying to make a living by following
not only their passion but their moral precepts. Making a living, an honest
living, has never been easy for writers. But today’s environment is particularly
challenging for those who don’t care to sell their soul in order to advance
agendas and ideas they do not agree with. In a society mired in corporate
ideology and the need for maximizing profit, there is little room for voices
that disagree with the mainstream. There is no public square anymore, where a
person can step up on a soapbox and talk to their fellow citizens.
Fortunately, the internet brought us new and exciting
opportunities to be able to share what we create with others, and for the luckiest
and most diligent of us, it has provided us a way to make a living. Through social
media, writers, artists, comedians, and other creative types have been able to
build audiences and profit from their work. And there is a market for those who do not adhere to the official narrative,
there are people hungry for more than just the next Adam Sandler film, Ed
Sheeran song, or angry talking-head political opinions. People really want
thoughtful and challenging ideas, many want to question the official line, feel
deep in their souls that all that we are shown by corporate media is not all there
is.
But the censorship has begun. You can argue how this is not censorship
since Facebook is not a government institution but a corporation that can do
whatever it likes. But this is always what censorship has looked like. And it is
undeniable the government forced Facebook’s hand, demanding they do something
about “fake news”. Unaccountable, anonymous forces within the government, acting
through Democrats driven mad by the Russian Election Interference Narrative,
told Facebook it needed to find evidence of Russian influence and then told
them they had to do something about it.
And they did. In the most predictable and cheapest way
possible, they created algorithms to determine what you are able to see on your
feed and what is taboo. Mark Zuckerberg and a handful of tremendously rich
techies are determining the information you receive. They are fashioning for
you your view of the world. Unless you receive your news elsewhere, in which
case other billionaires are shaping your world view. Jeff Bezos, who owns the
Washington Post, is worth $105.1 billions as of January 8 2018 (that .1 seems
not worth including until you realize it’s $100 million dollars, hardly chump
change). Rupert Murdoch is worth $12 billion. The Koch Brothers and the heirs
of the Walmart fortune contribute to NPR in order to shape their reporting.
In short, if you want information and perspective from
anyone who is not working in the interests of the obscenely rich, your best
chance of finding it is on social media. And this option is now being taken
away from the independent voices who dare speak contrary to the official
narrative or those who, like Tricia Gates Brown, are simply swept up in the net
of censorship algorithms created (allegedly) to stop Russia from interfering in
our elections. Is this America? Is this what it means to be free, to have the
power to direct ourselves and our politics?
So I ask this of you Facebook: why is Theology Of Resistance
banned from Facebook? What, other than political pressure is driving your clampdown
on the sharing of information on your platform? In your attempt to eliminate false
news from our feeds, are you spending the amount of money required to do a thorough
and fair job, or are you only doing enough to get the government (unaccountable
deep state) off your back while still maximizing profits for someone who is
already a multi-billionaire?
Tricia Gates Brown is not the first nor will she be the last
voice to be silenced through internet censorship. We need alternative voices to
enter our consciousness, need to be kept aware that the paradigm that is
constantly being shaped for us by powerful interests is not the indisputable truth.
We need independent voices, need variety and competition in the arena of
information and perspective.
The mainstream media has no interest in preserving freedom
for the independent writers and thinkers—they have no desire for competition
nor do they wish to be contradicted. It is up to us as ordinary people,
individuals, to ensure that freedom of speech endures in a meaningful way. I
ask you to share this message and to continue to ask the question: Why is
Theology Of Resistance banned from Facebook?
You can find Theology Of Resistance here. Please share this message.
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