When the Corporate World Gains too Much Power

[Heyo]

But their property is being used as a public space. I'm wondering if there is room in reality for a middle to exist, where the people write the rules, whether it be government or corporate territory, regardless.

People do. As long as you can decide which social media to use, there is no such thing as corporate censorship. Or at least not more censorship than you agreed to.
Is RF a corporate, communist, authoritarian, censoring forum? They surely have deleted posts from me.

 

[icehorse]

I've seen social media giants censor Donald Trump and ban him entirely. Kind of like something you see in a Communist dictatorship.

So if it's possible that governments can gain excessive power to the point of over-doing it, can the same be said for the corporate world?

If so, what is the middle of these two polar opposites? Is it "the people"..? If so, do the people of the middle have a vehicle for power? If so, what is that vehicle?

For my money, you're conflating a few different concerns here:

1 - How should we deal with free speech in the context of social media?
2 - Can the top .0001% (what I call "oligarchs"), become too powerful?

For #1, my opinion is that when a social media platform reaches a certain size, they should be considered to be a public utility, or broken up.

For #2, oligarchs are poisoning MOST aspects of secular societies, and we must defang them.

 

[The Hammer]

I've seen social media giants censor Donald Trump and ban him entirely. Kind of like something you see in a Communist dictatorship.

So if it's possible that governments can gain excessive power to the point of over-doing it, can the same be said for the corporate world?

If so, what is the middle of these two polar opposites? Is it "the people"..? If so, do the people of the middle have a vehicle for power? If so, what is that vehicle?

When you sign up for social media such as facebook or twitter, you electronically sign a "User Agreement" that states the platforms Rules, if you don't abide by those Rules, you can be kicked off the platform; just like you can be banned from our forum here for breaking the rules too many times.

Freedom of Speech, does not mean Freedoms from the consequences of said speech. Can't follow the Rules, "Bye Felicia".

Nothing dictatorial about it. You agreed to the terms by creating an account. If you didn't read the EULA (end user license agreement) that's on your ***.

 

[Cooky]

When you sign up for social media such as facebook or twitter, you electronically sign a "User Agreement" that states the platforms Rules, if you don't abide by those Rules, you can be kicked off the platform; just like you can be banned from our forum here for breaking the rules too many times.

Freedom of Speech, does not mean Freedoms from the consequences of said speech. Can't follow the Rules, "Bye Felicia".

Nothing dictatorial about it. You agreed to the terms by creating an account. If you didn't read the EULA (end user license agreement) that's on your ***.

What if the people were allowed to make the rules... I wonder if that's possible.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

What if the people were allowed to make the rules... I wonder if that's possible.

Who are the people in this context?

 

[Cooky]

Who are the people in this context?

Everyday citizens. The general population.

Are you familiar with "ballot measures"..?

 

[Kooky]

Everyday citizens. The general population.

Is Mark Zuckerberg an everyday citizen or a general population?
Or would he be too rich?

 

[Cooky]

Is Mark Zuckerberg an everyday citizen or a general population?
Or would he be too rich?

Do you know what a "ballot measure" is..?

What if there was a computer program that asked specific questions, and people were allowed to describe many things... And all the opinions, of all the people were tallied up to create laws... Like what Facebook is allowed to do or not. Among other things... Would that be good or bad?

 

[Heyo]

What if the people were allowed to make the rules... I wonder if that's possible.

It once was. I remember the "wild west" times of usenet.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

Everyday citizens. The general population.

Are you familiar with "ballot measures"..?

Yes, you can do that. But in the end, it has to happen within the constitution. So for a privately owned platform are you willing to accept that the public controls their rules on their private property? That is a limitation of private property rights and a sort of in the end socialism.

 

[Kooky]

Do you know what a "ballot measure" is..?

What if there was a computer program that asked specific questions, and people were allowed to describe many things... And all the opinions, of all the people were tallied up to create laws... Like what Facebook is allowed to do or not. Among other things... Would that be good or bad?

I don't know...
Who would write the computer program?
What questions would they ask?

EDIT:
I'm thinking about this... was ancient Athens similar to this?
They had "democracy", and every "citizen" had a voice...
And they decided to
* make women have no rights
* make foreign-born have no rights
* kill Socrates for making up a God

Would they have been better if they had a computer program?

 

[Cooky]

I don't know...
Who would write the computer program?
What questions would they ask?

Social scientists. Instead of politicians, we would elect social scientists based on their education levels, and credentials, to formulate questioneers based on subjects that the populace want change in.

We wouldn't really need "politicians" anymore. The people would be the politicians. And everything would be under our control.

 

[Altfish]

I've seen social media giants censor Donald Trump and ban him entirely. Kind of like something you see in a Communist dictatorship.

Why is that any different from Trump refusing top go on (say) CNN? Is that like a communist dictatorship too?

 

[Cooky]

Why is that any different from Trump refusing top go on (say) CNN? Is that like a communist dictatorship too?

I don't know what "refusing top go" means. Can you rephrase that?

 

[Cooky]

It once was. I remember the "wild west" times of usenet.

Interesting...
Usenet - Wikipedia

 

[Quetzal]

New I've seen social media giants censor Donald Trump and ban him entirely. Kind of like something you see in a Communist dictatorship.

This phrase is so funny it is almost worth putting in my signature.

 

[The Hammer]

What if the people were allowed to make the rules... I wonder if that's possible.

People as a whole, are ignorant.

 

[Nakosis]

So the free market... is socialist?!!!!

Not really a free-market in the US anymore.

More like an oligarchy.

A few corporations controlling large shares of the market.

No problem when this type of authoritarian control works in your favor. However, times change. Can't always be certain the winds are going to blow in your favor.

I'll admit, I like Amazon. Amazon gives me what I want, for now. Someday though we may find ourselves regretting giving one company that much control over our economy.

 

[Altfish]

I don't know what "refusing top go" means. Can you rephrase that?

The quote was "Refuse to go on CNN" - ie he would only be interviewed by him tame channel Fox.

 

[Cooky]

People as a whole, are ignorant.

Or are they brilliant..? I think without politicians, we eliminate 'groupthink' ... Everyone becomes independent, and we can control the media too, by passing laws that force "requirements" for talk show hosts to be educated and fair... We the people can end partisanship altogether and move forward with modern technologies... If we dare...