Why I Phased Out of Facebook
Two words: Free Speech.
That’s as core an American value as it gets, right? Would you expect to enjoy that vaunted right—guaranteed by our Bill of Rights and prized for the permission it gives us to speak truth to power—in today’s version of the public square? Or has this nation become some hollow mockery of the Land of the Free previous generations fought and died for?
I wrote some of their stories, as you might recall!
Well, if Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram… even Pinterest and their ilk define our collective public headspace, we’ve somehow moved past “free speech” as a lynchpin of our values. If you have the effrontery to have an opinion that disagrees with the approved narrative on any number of topics right now, your posts will be fake “fact checked,” your reach manipulated via “shadow banning,” your hard-built accounts subject to cancellation without due process or effective right of appeal.
My Manifesto
It was a little over a year ago that I published an Independence Day Manifesto announcing several ways I was determined to no longer comply with the ongoing erosion of our freedoms. That’s when I swore off Facebook and every other free-speech-stomping social media platform.
I have to admit that I was especially irate at Facebook, probably not because Facebook is the biggest offender, but more because that was the platform where I had personally devoted the most time and effort putting myself out there. Time, effort, and even a little money—I had a small Facebook ad budget I used to help ensure my content would be visible.
What a joke! There I was paying to play when the field wasn’t even level!
I’ve discussed this since with many people, and most don’t seem to feel the outrage I do. They give me a little shrug and say they don’t get into politics (or medicine, or socio-economics, or controversial aspects of their faith) on Facebook anyway. They say they just use Facebook to keep in touch with friends. For that, Facebook is apparently irreplaceable.
Well for me, that’s a problem. Facebook and other social media platforms have become today’s version of the town square. For my demographic, Facebook essentially has a monopoly—it’s our go-to for organizing events and groups. For communing with people who share our specific interests. For staying in touch with old friends we don’t necessarily get to see on a regular basis. Letting people know what we’re celebrating—or grieving.
A Monopoly Abused
Honestly, I do miss that. But I also feel deeply betrayed that this friendly little add-on to my life has the chutzpah to think it can censor my opinions! That it can tell me what it’s OK to communicate into that virtual town square, and by extension, what it’s OK to think. We’ve given Facebook a monopoly and Facebook has abused that power to try to own us intellectually.
To me, it’s monstrous. Not to mention un-American. Shouldn’t TRUTH be able to stand up to debate in a free marketplace of ideas?
Bottom line. If Big Tech can cancel opinions such as these (and these are just a few examples off the top of my head):
U.S. Senator Rand Paul, a physician, shared early in the lockdowns that in his opinion cloth masks do not impede the spread of a virus. This supposed dangerous bit of “misinformation” cost him his Twitter account. When the CDC quietly admitted the same thing some months later, do you think he got it restored?
Dr. Robert Malone, an internationally recognized scientist/physician and the original inventor of mRNA vaccination as a technology, went public with his concerns that the Covid vaccines were being rushed to market with unsafe and detrimental shortcuts. He’s been mercilessly hounded at the hands of Big Tech and Big Media as a result. As Dr. Malone expressed it himself in an interview with Joe Rogan, if the inventor of the technology is not entitled to have an opinion, then who is?
Or how about Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop? The NY Post broke the story weeks before the 2020 election and it was ruthlessly squashed. Anyone who repeated the story got fact-checked out of existence. But guess what? Even mainstream media has had to admit since that the laptop is legitimate. The revelations on that laptop would absolutely have impacted the election had Big Tech and Big Media not jumped into the fray in such a coordinated way to bury the story. (If you need a recap of this one, Zerohedge.com just published a good one this morning.)
If Big Tech can cancel this kind of free speech, then I can cancel Big Tech. I will no longer contribute to their monopoly. I’ll vote with my feet.
If you’re determined to stay on Facebook so you can enjoy your friends’ vacation pics, that’s certainly your choice. But for me, it feels like there should be bigger issues at play. “They” want to keep us distracted, scanning photos and reading up on celebrities while we endure engineered crisis after engineered crisis—which we’re not allowed to form our own opinions about. It all feels a bit like pausing to listen to the melodies of the band on the tilting deck of the Titanic. Or watching Nero fiddle while Rome burns.
Days of Lot
Let me tell you about one recurring mental image that plagues me. Jesus spoke of how the last days would be just like the days of Noah, or the days of Lot, with people eating and drinking, buying and selling, marrying and giving in marriage (Luke 17:26-29)—in other words, going placidly on with their normal lives right up until their doom fell.
I believe with all my heart that we are the “fig-tree generation” that “will not pass away until all these things take place” (Matt 24:32-34). I don’t want to be the person going about my normal business in the marketplace while the storm clouds gather. I want to be one of His “preachers of righteousness,” pointing up at the sky and trumpeting a clear warning until He comes.
Trust me, I have fallen far short of this ideal, but I’m going to do my best to mend my ways and redeem whatever time is left to me. Yes, I may lose a book sale or a few if readers are no longer able to connect with me on their favored social media platforms. I guess I will have to live with that.
…This civilization is flying facefirst toward collapse on myriad fronts…. Any attempt to draw attention to this gets met with a “that makes me uncomfortable” hand-waving dismissal. (Caitlyn Johnstone)
I no longer feel I have time to waste on platforms that won’t allow me to talk about the things that weigh most heavily on my mind.
Linda So glad you are Back You are such a great Author and I Love your Books <3
I love your writing and your message. I was very happy to see you on substack!