Time and again, when it comes to the censoring, shadow banning, or outright banning of pro-liberty, pro-individualist, independent and conservative voices, we are told by the social media behemoths not to believe our ‘lying eyes.’
Like this week when, without warning, The Firearm Blog was dumped from Instagram.
According to the news site, Instagram deleted the “account and all its contents.”
The site noted further:
While the exact reason for the removal is unknown, it doesn’t take a modern-day Sherlock Holmes to make a few basic deductions. TFB’s account was nothing but images of guns and gear. We didn’t post nudity, profanity, incite violence or law breaking or illegal content of any kind. We never paid for followers or abused our account. Ever. Yet The Firearm Blog was deleted from Instagram.
The site also posted the message they received from Instagram:
Hi,
The account you’re referring to has been removed. We’re unable to restore accounts that have been permanently deleted. We’re sorry for any inconvenience this causes.
Thanks,
The Instagram Team
So much for any appeals process as well. And mind you, it’s not difficult to find nearly naked pictures of men and women on the social media platform, so it’s not as if the Instagram editors are Puritans offended by certain content. They’re just Left-wing Nazis, like those who work for the other social media giants.
This is getting to be a really regular occurrence for social media companies
The Firearm Blog noted that in one sense, losing the account only meant losing a bunch of pictures because it was “a six-year photo album chronicling the happenings of TFB stories and staff.” However, the account was also a way to keep the blog’s 45,000 followers and fans up-to-date with everything that was happening at the site — hence the purpose of social media to begin with. (Related: The pathway to solving social media censorship – How President Trump can take on the tech tyrants.)
“In the grander scheme of things, it’s concerning that pictures of firearms are so scary that private companies with virtual monopolies can decide what should be censored and what remains,” TFB noted. “A stroll through the halls of either Facebook or Instagram will lead you [to] content that is much more shocking than James in a Speedo with his Hi-Point.”
For now, the site encourages readers to follow members of its staff because “after all, they are the ones that do all the work around here.” In the meantime, TFB will think about reconstituting a new page, though doing so will likely only bring about a similar fate — later, perhaps, after several thousand people have come to rely on the account for up-to-date info on guns, ammo, and the shooting sports.
The deplatforming of this blog comes on the heels of a hearing on social media censorship held by the Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on the Constitution, chaired by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Representatives from Facebook and Twitter claimed their companies have never censored or shadow banned anyone over political content, though Cruz contended they do curb access to conservative and independent media voices and figures.
The blog’s deplatforming also comes after House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) filed a $250 million lawsuit against Twitter and some of the platform’s users claiming that the social media company “partially blocks or removes certain content posted by conservatives without notifying them,” The Hill reported.
Of course, the companies all deny they shadow ban or censor certain political or politically incorrect views (like pro-gun sites such as The Firearm Blog). And yet, most news and information sites that publish independent or conservative perspectives all report they have suffered significant drops in traffic (and revenue) over the past year as censorship and shadow banning became more prevalent.
You can still view TFB’s TV page here.
See more news and information regarding the tech giants’ censorship of guns and other ‘politically incorrect’ content at TechGiants.news and Censorship.news.
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