By Henry Lucas March 28, 2021 American Thinker
We regularly see the Big Tech oligarchies deplatform well-known conservative voices. Other conservatives urge everyone to move to alternative media platforms -- voting with their feet – but forget that Parler still got de-platformed and, though it’s now back online, is still subject to another service provider’s Terms of Service.
Conservatives need to acknowledge a paradigm shift has occurred: Big Tech companies are not “free market capitalists,” but are, in fact, agents of American socialism. When Michelle Obama tweets out that Twitter and Facebook should deplatform the sitting President of the United States, and they follow that directive within a day or so, we need to realize there is a new power structure in place. Keep in mind that Hitler rose to power with the support of German industrialists. He never needed to have his government pass a decree ordering the Final Solution; his followers knew what was expected.
Modern communism and socialism are two ideological suits cut from the same bolt of cloth. Communism is more of an internationally oriented ideology (workers of the world unite!) that says the “workers” should own the means of production. Socialism is historically more nationalist in practice. Significantly, it allows businesses to remain in private hands, provided that those businesses act as agents of the government. American socialism has an international orientation, explaining its adherents’ belief in globalism and open borders, but it still allows businesses to retain their monopolistic positions.
Conservatives need to start repeating what the U.S. Military said at the end of the Vietnam era: “never believe your own propaganda.” We need to reject the conservative propaganda holding that these Big Tech oligarchs are the pinnacle of capitalistic success and engines of innovation. That’s simply not the case.
According to Wikipedia, Google has purchased 241 companies since its inception, most recently Fitbit. Twitter has purchased 65 companies and Facebook 89. Engines of innovation? Hardly. They need these purchases to close off potential competitors before they become a threat and to have new processes to exploit.
As far as pinnacles of capitalistic success, imagine this: American socialism is the castle, and Big Tech and the big banks are the moats defending that castle. The peasants need to be kept out. Big Tech oligarchs exist because the Government protects them and they, in turn, protect the Government.
Since the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission show little interest in reining in these groups, we need to take a different approach and that approach is a tactic the left created and has used effectively for decades: Lawfare. Currently, Twitter, Facebook, and Google all operate under federal regulations allowing them patent protection for their software, processes, and technology. Yes, even conceptual processes can be patented!
Conservatives need to forum shop for a receptive judge and file a class-action lawsuit. The suit would demand that Big Tech’s monopolistic practices, which they’ve effectively used to corner the same speech they now block, must be ended by their releasing to the public domain all the programs and processes they use to restrict our rights under the First Amendment. The Government should be named as an un-indicted co-conspirator due to its complicity in allowing Big Tech to exert unlimited control over their marketplace of speech and ideas, thereby denying us our First Amendment rights! This is exactly the way the lawsuit should be framed.
Once the case is won, if Big Tech doesn’t comply within one week, the court should order the Patent Office to release those patents, making all those programs and processes part of the public domain. Suddenly, Big Tech’s army of lawyers intimidating startups and stifling any ideas that threaten their monopolies would be disarmed.
There are numerous advantages to this approach. With that data made public, there would be an avalanche of new, small, innovative companies emerging in the anaerobic environment Big Tech has created. Small companies are the engine of job creation and are true free market capitalists. With the barriers of entry lowered or removed, true innovation would once again be possible. The market disruptions this action would cause would quickly be offset by the new growth of young and aggressive competitors.
Major American companies that are not named in the lawsuit would nevertheless realize the game has changed. No longer would it be possible and desirable to stifle conservative speech. Since even monopolies are in the business of making money, this approach would immediately cause a change in attitudes.
If you have ever pondered why AT&T allows CNN to be so blatantly hostile to conservative ideas, it is because it is in AT&T’s (and CNN’s) best interests to do so. That reality ends with this action when big business realizes that conservatives no longer treat crony capitalism as free market capitalism.
Just recently, Democrat congressmen sent letters to television carriers to deplatform conservative-leaning news organizations. According to The Epoch Times, law professor Alan Dershowitz stated,
When the First Amendment says Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, it’s been interpreted to mean, take no action, it doesn’t have to be law. The First Amendment applies to presidents to governors to mayors to anybody who can abridge freedom of speech. And I think these letters abridge the freedom of speech.
Clearly, it’s long past time to act decisively and eliminate the government/Big Tech connection.
Destroying Big Tech monopolies would also destroy the primary agents that have the most to gain from Globalism. The consequences of the return to an America-centric point of view would be millions of new jobs, a newly energized middle class, and a return to American-based manufacturing and innovation. Everyone wins except for Big Tech and the American brand of socialism. Plus, we may even remain a free country in the process.