1) Private companies can remove content on their platforms for any reason.
2) Not all ideas deserve an equal platform for "exchange". Some are egregious enough to just get rid of. Pretending all ideas are equally worthy of discussion is a dangerous false balance that gives credence to incredulous claims.
3) This author seems to think speech has no effect on actions. "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me" -- unless, of course, those words encourage my boyfriend to beat me, or the guy at the bar to rape me. Yes, the actors are to blame for that, but the people promoting ideas that encourage those actions are not blameless.
The January 6th insurrection was spurred on by words. The anti-vax movement was emboldened by words. Hell, at the risk of this sounding like an exaggeration (it's not), Nazis were created and controlled by words.
Words exist to communicate ideas. Ideas inform beliefs. And beliefs determine actions.
Words are not harmless, and harmful words should have consequences. Being erased from the record of private platforms is the least consequence that could happen for it.
Lastly, the author suggests the TikTok purge is using facial recognition. I doubt it. More likely, it's just doing video-matching against the original videos Tate uploaded that have been taken down.
2) Not all ideas deserve an equal platform for "exchange". Some are egregious enough to just get rid of. Pretending all ideas are equally worthy of discussion is a dangerous false balance that gives credence to incredulous claims.
3) This author seems to think speech has no effect on actions. "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me" -- unless, of course, those words encourage my boyfriend to beat me, or the guy at the bar to rape me. Yes, the actors are to blame for that, but the people promoting ideas that encourage those actions are not blameless.
The January 6th insurrection was spurred on by words. The anti-vax movement was emboldened by words. Hell, at the risk of this sounding like an exaggeration (it's not), Nazis were created and controlled by words.
Words exist to communicate ideas. Ideas inform beliefs. And beliefs determine actions.
Words are not harmless, and harmful words should have consequences. Being erased from the record of private platforms is the least consequence that could happen for it.
Lastly, the author suggests the TikTok purge is using facial recognition. I doubt it. More likely, it's just doing video-matching against the original videos Tate uploaded that have been taken down.