Remember the days when the U.S. federal government concerned itself with media cross-ownership regulations?
Those were the rules that ensured media companies would not dominate individual geographic markets by buying up newspapers, radio stations and television properties in major cities.
The thought was that companies doing that would:
1. limit certain kinds of political speech; 2. create advertising monopolies; 3. use the advertising monopoly to boycott the independent media; and 4. CENSOR MOST INDEPENDENT MEDIA.
Because the feds have done nothing about today’s Digital Cartel, Stage 4 is now where we are – believe it or not. It’s a nightmare for America.
It’s the biggest untold story in America. They stole the election from Donald Trump with their power – and many others to boot.
Today, newspapers, radio stations and television properties are more concerned with basic survival. Few big media companies are even interested in the benefits of dominating individual markets. As the most important and vital forms of media are now online, it’s almost as though the principles that seemed so important a few years ago – competition and free and open debate – have become irrelevant to government.
Two companies have become so dominant in media nationally and internationally that geographic dominance is not even an issue anymore.
Those two companies are Google and Facebook.
With less than half of Americans noticing, these two digital media behemoths, sharing an ultra-left worldview, dominate both advertising revenues and control of the distribution of content in America and throughout the Western world. Add Amazon to the mix and the deck is so stacked against independent media voices and freedom of speech that the First Amendment could soon become a meaningless, irrelevant relic. Throw in Twitter, YouTube and the rest of the Big Tech companies.
The worldview of Google, Facebook and Amazon is not unlike the worldview of San Francisco or Berkeley. It’s akin to the worldview that imposes speech codes on college and university campuses. It sees “conservative” ideas as “hate speech.” All of them employ as content police a corrupt, extremist, left-wing organization known as the Southern Poverty Law Center, which labels President Trump as a “fascist,” a “hater,” a “racist” and worse.
Think of how Google and Facebook alone impose their shared values on America today:
- together they control digital advertising – depriving media that don’t follow their speech codes or play by the rules of their mysteriously and secretly changing algorithms from getting any;
- through dominant search-engine power, they effectively “bury” content they don’t like, while elevating their favored content creators;
- they shut down YouTube and Facebook pages for content that offends their own narrow form of left-wing “political correctness”;
- through their own political biases, they determine what is “real news” and what is “fake news”; and
- they own the platforms those with different views are forced to use – as bandwidth providers and advertising servers.
Their ascendancy has narrowed debate and given preference to one political point of view in a way that is unprecedented in American history.
Government, meanwhile, the only power large enough to hold them in check, to demand accountability, to protect free speech, to uphold freedom of religion and to be a guardian of freedom of the press, has virtually ignored the crisis created by the power and wealth these public corporations have accumulated.
Censorship has won the day.
It’s not that a few politicians haven’t noticed what I am saying; it’s just that nothing is being done about it – with the exception of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida.
“These activists want the playing field to be tilted in favor of their ‘politically correct’ worldview so that democratic outcomes like the 2016 presidential election can never happen again,” warned Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. “Censorship like this undermines public discourse and trust in our institutions – and it is likely to get worse before it gets better.”
In the meantime, the independent media – companies like WND, Breitbart and others – are being targeted for extermination by this cartel. A cultural and corporate coup is underway. It may be the biggest threat we face in maintaining free and open debate in a civil society under the rule of the Constitution and the will of the people.
The hour is late.
Everyday American citizens are denied vital information by Big Tech.
The stakes are high.
How much longer are we going to wait?
The window of opportunity is closing.
I know WND, the first independent online media outlet, is operating on fumes – relying on donations, handouts, charity.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
It isn’t what America’s founders intended for this great nation.
TODAY’S UPDATE ON WND’S REVIVAL CAMPAIGN: Starting Tuesday, June 15, we launched a drive to raise $100,000 by July 15 so WND, now in its 25th year, can continue to operate. As of today, since June 15 we’ve raised $15,497.38. That’s a good start, but we have three weeks left to raise the remaining $84,503. Please support us with your prayers and by making a generous tax-deductible donation to the WND News Center, the nonprofit, charitable, 501(c)3 sister organization to the for-profit WND. And consider sending a monthly contribution of any amount.
Remember, if WND goes down, soon the independent free press will be a thing of the past, and with it, our uniquely blessed nation. Please make your tax-deductible donations online at the WND News Center website. Or, if you prefer to mail your donation, please make your check out to “WND News Center,” write “Farah donation appeal” on the check’s memo line and mail it to: WND News Center, P.O. Box 100, 580 E Street, Hawthorne, NV 89415-0100. Thank you very much, and God bless you.
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].
SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!
This article was originally published by the WND News Center.
