Trump’s "Russia thing" is rearing its obvious head yet again

Ben Reilly wrote:Russian firm has helped bring Parler, the messaging app favored by the far right and used to plan the Capitol attack, back online.

And the FBI has arrested a woman for trying to sell a laptop stolen from Nancy Pelosi during the attack... to the Russian government.

Maddog wrote:

Ben Reilly wrote:Russian firm has helped bring Parler, the messaging app favored by the far right and used to plan the Capitol attack, back online.

And the FBI has arrested a woman for trying to sell a laptop stolen from Nancy Pelosi during the attack... to the Russian government.

Is this surprising? Should have left Parler alone and simply monitored it and arrested people that broke the law.  

Original Quill wrote:

Maddog wrote:

Is this surprising? Should have left Parler alone and simply monitored it and arrested people that broke the law.  

Amazon, owner of the web-hosting service that took the action, kicked Parler off the air for inciting the 1/6 siege on the U.S. Capitol.  Being a private company, Amazon is not responsible for police monitoring and arrests, which can only be done by public agencies.  No public agencies were involved.

Nonetheless, Amazon in taking the action did mention the insurrection, which involved many breaches of law, including the homicide of a Capitol policeman.

Parler has sued in federal court seeking reinstatement, but only on grounds of breach of contract and abuse of market power.

https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2021-01-11/parler-squeezed-as-trump-seeks-new-online-megaphone

Original Quill wrote:

Maddog wrote:For years, the US was place where people hosted sites because they would find less resistance there.

The US was the most advanced, yes.  So advanced, in fact, that it was the first to encounter the problem with free speech: lies.

Ever since Goebbels elucidated the tactic of THE BIG LIE, it has lain dormant until along came the BIG MEGAPHONE...the Internet.  Nations such as the UK and the US, which have always supported free speech, now must deal with its nemesis.  To scream FIRE, FIRE, in a crowded theater where it does not exist, does not advance political and social speech, but creates chaos and panic.

Chaos and panic do not further the interests of reason and political welfare.  In lanes like Parler, they do the opposite, promoting demonstrable falsehoods and fomenting the opposite of political welfare: political deception and ruin.

Original Quill wrote:

Maddog wrote:Yeah, lying isn't new. You of all people should know that.

I just said, it isn't the lies, but the megaphone that the Internet offers.