Progressives: Don’t Turn on Each Other Because of Alex Jones (Part 3)

Alex Jones (on the left) crashed an interview that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida, on the right) was giving reporters on September 5, 2018. Taken from a screenshot (video).

In Part 2 of this series, I talked about the incidents that happened since Alex Jones was banned from various platforms. I also talked about how I felt about Jones being targeted. Additionally, since I found out that the U.S. government (and the European Union) was involved, it made me think deeper about the issue of online censorship.

Now, it’s been over a month since I last visited this series, but a lot more has happened on this front. Before I can get into the nitty-gritty, I will need to talk about a few of these developments.

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Progressives: Don’t Turn on Each Other Because of Alex Jones (Part 1)

Last week, I weighed in on the Alex Jones controversy. In short, I said that I felt that his banishment certain platforms, namely Facebook and YouTube, was justified on the grounds that he violated their terms of service. Since then, the fight waged on, particularly among progressives. That part bothers me, but this situation has opened up a very important discussion about free speech and censorship.

This is going to be a three-parter. There’s a lot to go through, so here is my basic message:

Progressives need to talk this out while remaining respectful to each other. I know that this situation has revealed some people’s inner thoughts and to an extent, it is driven by schadenfreude. However, that is no reason for progressives to get mad at each other.

Also, we need to have an honest discussion about free speech and censorship. It’s important for lefties to get on the same page on this issue because they are their own best advocates.

In that spirit, I would like to reexamine this issue and figure out where I stand on it now. In this first part, I will examine the two sides in this issue — among progressives, of course. In the next two posts, I will look at what I now think about this situation and how we can move forward in this discussion.

Alex Jones: Is His Banishment an Issue of Free Speech?

Original image by Michael Zimmermann [CC BY-SA 4.0 ], from Wikimedia Commons

No, Alex Jones’ banishment from a host of platforms is not about free speech, but it has started on interesting conversation among progressives.

Entertainment and Science News I Missed (April 26, 2017)

Hey guys. For this Wednesday, I wanted to share some news I missed from the worlds of Entertainment and Science.