Re:Terminated
by Beltalowda on Monday June 20, 2022 @11:54AM
(#31811829)
I think the difference is that in the past there were many publishers. You're right that editorialising and censorship has been going on forever, but in the past much of it was kind of (unintentionally) decentralized.
Not that it was always perfect or anything, but this is a key difference. You can get content out there without going through Facebook/Google, but it's much harder. It's like the postal service doing the censorship.
The challenges faced by Facebook and Google are also substantial, although most of these revolve around user-generated content, a bit different from publisher-generated content. Maybe it shouldn't treat them as identical.
> It's like the postal service doing the censorship.
See 18 U.S. Code ยง 1461
This has been going on at least since publishers existed (ie. centuries ago).
Publishers have always held the reigns of power, and decided who had a voice and who didn't.
That's where self-publishing comes in, but of course self-publishing and independent platforms/publishers won't have the reach of huge organizations.
At least for now we still have a choice where to turn our attention, even if it's only a minority who'll make the effort to do so and stay informed from outside of mainstream media.