By A.W. Morgan
09/06/2017
Apropos of yesterday’s letter about libertarian internecine warfare about race and immigration, a view of The Liberty Conservative’s webpage reveals the chilling message that Google is trying to control its content with threats:
Yesterday morning, we received a very bizarre letter from Google issuing us an ultimatum. Either we were to remove a particular article or see all of our ad revenues choked off in an instant. This is the newest method that Big Brother is using to enforce thought control.
Former Liberty Conservative contributor James Allsup was involved in the Charlottesville, VA “Unite the Right” rally-turned-riot that served as the catalyst for this drive for Orwellian censorship. Although the article itself contained no offensive content (it was merely distinguishing the many differences between the alt-right and literal Nazis), just the fact that it was authored by a man deemed to be an “unperson” by the corporate elite was enough for Google to target it for censorship.
Notice how the descriptors [in the letter] for what violates the terms of service are deliberately vague and open for interpretation, giving Google an excuse to target any website or individual they so choose for any reason:
Here, partly, is what Google wrote: “[P]please be aware that the URL above is just an example and that the same violations may exist on other pages of this website or other sites that you own. To reduce the likelihood of future warnings from us, we suggest that you review all your sites for compliance.”
In other words: We Are Watching You.
Even worse, the corporate cyber-thuggery is going across platforms, and TLC had to comply or face losing revenue from Google:
This is not the first time we have been censored. In the past, Facebook banned users from sharing content immediately after they posted our controversial article criticizing a “libertarian” Washington D.C. thinktank official who denigrated Ron Paul. This is, however, the first time we have been directly threatened that we would be cut off if we refused to censor our content. An incredibly dangerous precedent is obviously being set here, and if you think that it won’t impact you directly at some point, think again.
Due to financial constraints, we had to comply with Google’s strong-arming tactics for the time being. An independent publisher such as The Liberty Conservative needs revenue from the Google ad platform in order to survive. We look forward to the day where rival ad platforms who respect the intellectual freedom of their customers can outcompete Google, but those days have not arrived yet. These tech companies have us all by the short hairs, and post-Charlottesville, they are all working in unison to enforce the Orwellian nightmare. Nobody is safe.
TLC is right about that. Nobody is safe.
This is a content archive of VDARE.com, which Letitia James forced off of the Internet using lawfare.