Mike Adams, the “health ranger”, the con artist behind Natural News, has been kicked off YouTube. Apparently it’s because he has long been promoting hateful conspiracy theories, but I’m surprised it hasn’t been because of his life-threatening quackery, or his twisted racism. He’s a red-skinned American Indian
, you know.
So he’s gone. Now Alex Jones is feeling existential dread. YouTube is threatening to throttle his channel for all the nonsensical conspiracy theories he peddles, and advertisers are finally stampeding away.
Can we hope that the NRA is next?
I know all the freeze-peachers will be shrieking about this abridgment of the freedom of conservatives, but it’s really not a conservative/liberal thing. It’s about lies. There should be disincentives to fraud and lying and fomenting hate, and that goes for the entire range of the political spectrum. Dangerous health advice ought to be punished rather than rewarded, and that’s the purview of not just the Right, but also the Left. Racist garbage ought to be flagged and not be a recipe for shoveling money via clicks. Let the NRA make their blood-soaked propaganda, but don’t let them use YouTube to monetize it.
The Internet had such promise, but now it’s used as a convenient sewer pipe to drench us with lies. A crackdown on dishonesty would be a nice corrective.
For a start, those who propagate for using “natural” remedies for cancer instead of proven medical procedures should be kicked the hell out. The same with anti-vaxxers, they increase the risk of infection for the rest of us, so they cannot claim it is a private choice.
But, but… how can a conservative hope to convince anyone without spewing a continuous stream of lies?
Funny thing is how much right-wing conservatives have suddenly come around to believing that the Internet equivalent of the “Fairness Doctrine” (the so-called Internet Bill of Rights) is a splendid idea.
Any conservative griping about this should be asked “Why do you hate capitalism?”. It’s after big companies listening to their customers. Yay! Free market forces work! Well…
…Sometimes.
To be clear, the “fairness doctrine” included a mandate, even if unenforceable in some cases, that you not lie about the other sides views. Removing it was taken, by *everyone* conservative news source as, “Now we can lie with impunity, without having to worry about being sued by stupid people that want us to be fair about our coverage of anything, including other people’s views.”
No, what you are talking about is the Fox News version of “fairness”, which has jack all to do with the original concept.
It’s neither discrimination nor abrogation of free speech. It is simply quality control. Who could argue against that? All organisations and companiesand media outlets should have it.
Did you just make me watch NRA TV?
Yes, yes you did.
I feel filthy. Need a bath.