PA Bill Number: SB945
Title: Consolidating the act of August 9, 1955 (P.L.323, No.130), known as The County Code; and making repeals.
Description: Consolidating the act of August 9, 1955 (P.L.323, No.130), known as The County Code; and making repeals. ...
Last Action: Third consideration and final passage (199-0)
Last Action Date: Apr 17, 2024
The Spirit of the Founders and Freedom From Big Tech Tyranny :: 11/15/2021
When Donald Trump announced that he would be launching an alternative to Big Tech — his Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which includes his Twitter/Facebook alternative TRUTH Social — he was echoing the spirit of the Founding Fathers. Indeed, what Donald Trump and others are doing now in setting up alternative media outlets can be seen as a microcosm of what the Founders did in writing the Declaration of Independence and then setting up a new government in the late 18th century.
From the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,—That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.”
They were essentially saying, “We’ve been patient and put up with this long enough. We didn’t want to have to do this, but you leave us no choice: We’re done. We’re setting up our own system because we’re tired of yours.”
Ditto for American patriots today. They’re tired of the Big Tech monopoly on speech. They want to set up and organize a system that “shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
Liberty is a God-given right, and that liberty includes freedom of speech. Tech companies, of course, were once bastions of free speech, allowing virtually anything to be posted without censorship, shadowbanning, or deplatforming. That all changed, for the most part, during the Trump presidency.
American patriots and conservatives have certainly suffered a “long train of abuses and usurpations” at the hands of Big Tech, particularly in the form of censorship, shadowbanning, and deplatforming.
As many people noted after Trump was deplatformed, if such a high-profile individual as the president of the United States can be kicked off of social media, who is safe? No one guilty of “wrongthink” is immune from the censorship.
Just as bad as the censorship, or perhaps worse, is the propensity of Big Tech to control the flow of information to influence political outcomes. Google execs were openly speaking of using the company’s search engine and ad power to ensure that Donald Trump never happened again. Facebook rigged its newsfeed, stifling conservative content.
Patriots and conservatives have a right — a duty — to throw off the Big Tech oligarchs and provide new outlets for their future free speech.
As Trump said in an October 20 press release, “I created TRUTH Social and TMTG to stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech. We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced. This is unacceptable. I am excited to send out my first TRUTH on TRUTH Social very soon. TMTG was founded with a mission to give a voice to all. I’m excited to soon begin sharing my thoughts on TRUTH Social and to fight back against Big Tech. Everyone asks me why doesn’t someone stand up to Big Tech? Well, we will be soon!”
Many have remarked how difficult it is to combat the Big Tech monopoly for lack of funding and audience. This is true. Smaller alternatives have sprung up over the past several years, but none have had anywhere near the reach as YouTube, Google, Twitter, Facebook, and the like. Donald Trump could change that. With his money, business acumen, and celebrity status, he has the ability to launch something “Yuge.”
Donald Trump, whatever one thinks of his bombastic personality and tireless self-promotion, is echoing the spirit of the Founders in starting up his Trump Media & Technology Group. Patriots across the country should join in and support his efforts.
