As we continue to hear about forensic audits, January 6 being compared to the sacking of the White House during the war of 1812, with AOC being the new Dolly Madison saving portraits, social media continues their war on those who refuse to bow. More and more accounts are being banned or otherwise restricted, and one can only wonder, if, and when, this will begin affecting their bottom line.
We all know that advertising is where the money mostly comes from for Facebook and/or Twitter, as they can’t really charge for use of what they call “public forums,” nor do they want to as they know that will destroy them. But, if you ban more than half of your users, the other half aren’t going to say “yay, I’m not being offended by people disagreeing, I’ll spend double what I used to” and their income will go down accordingly. The questions, therefore, are simple.
One, when will we see this begin? Two, what will the response from Zuckerberg or Dorsey be when their income is impacted? Three, what will the response from those banned be when those who banned them begin to be negatively impacted?
Taking them individually, I believe number one will begin to happen in the next year. Parler already proved you can start a new company, even if the DNC decides you aren’t allowed to and pressured private companies to deny you access. This means others will continue to spring up, and when Facebook and Twitter face competition, expect to hear them whining about how unfair it is that these new companies “pander to bigots” or worse.
The response will be simple, and we’ve already seen it, Zuckerberg, Dorsey, and the DNC, vocally or through talking heads, will demand that no one compete with Facebook or Twitter, that no one who was banned has a right to free speech, and when the money isn’t flowing in, they’ll try to just funnel tax dollars to them, and if/when they are caught, they’ll say “these are very needed public forums, they must be preserved.”
Finally, should they go the way I hope they do, that being losing millions or more every day, until they’re on the verge of closing up shop, I believe we will hear them crying about those they banned are “punishing them” but refusing to return when ordered. Personally, I’ll not be surprised to get an email from Facebook and Twitter saying my account is no longer blocked, just restricted so I can read articles, but not comment or post, and of course, I am not able to even contest them. If that day comes, they will receive a letter saying “nope, you banned me, you no longer may house my data, I demand proof within 72 business hours that you’ve deleted my data!” Why? Because that will be their “you are required to log in, watch the ads on our site, buy from those we allow to advertise here, but you may not speak, as you aren’t worthy of that.” moment, and I refuse to bend the knee.