The chaos of WallStreetBets and the QAnon-fueled storming of the U.S. Capitol showcased the reality-shaping power of Internet communities. Who’s supposed to stop them when they go too far?
Following Facebook and Twitterâs banishing of Donald Trump and Google, Apple, and Amazonâs deplatforming of competitor Parler, Republicans, conservatives, and free speech advocates of all stripes have been even more aggressively ringing alarm bells. So, what has transpired since?
First, Big Tech is a lot more powerful than many may have appreciated. Parler, which filed a lawsuit against Amazon Web Services (AWS) for breach of contract, had its demand for a preliminary injunction denied by a Washington State federal court. However, as The Federalistâs Margot Cleveland observes, the failure to win the injunction was not the courtâs fault. She notes, âThe courtâs analysis proved solid â and sadly also proved it will be hard for conservatives to counter Big Techâs stranglehold on the modern public square.â This is due primarily to the fact that âthe governing legal precedent makes it unlikely anyone seeking to challenge a deplatforming d
Douglas Andrews
âEvery agency will place equity at the core of their public engagement, their policy design, and program delivery to ensure that government resources are reaching Americans of color and all marginalized communities â rural, urban, disabled, LGBTQ+, religious minorities, and so many others.â
So said White House Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice during a press briefing yesterday, lending further evidence to the Biden administrationâs seemingly pathological fixation on a single word: equity. Not equality. Equity.
And to be clear: Equality and equity arenât the same things. Not even close. The root of the former word is one of the self-evident truths embedded in our Declaration of Independence. It refers to the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities. The latter word, however, refers to systems and institutions that are âfairâ and âjust.â
Aaron Bandler is a staff writer for the Jewish Journal, mainly covering anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias. Originally from the Bay Area, his past work experience includes writing for The Daily Wire, The Daily Caller and Townhall.
New York City Mayoral candidate Andrew Yang speaks at a press conference on January 14, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
New York City Mayoral Candidate Andrew Yang wrote in The Forward that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement harkens “back to fascist boycotts of Jewish businesses” in a January 22 op-ed in The Forward.
Yang, who previously ran in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, noted that Jews were the victims in nearly 60% of the hate crime complaints in New York City. He also pointed out that neo-Nazis aren’t the only source of hate crimes.