I agree that Parler should be shut down, but going forward I think we need to rely on court systems with due process (or some new alternative system that specifically addresses digital censorship). I’m afraid of this becoming the norm.
Public discourse increasingly relies on these corporate platforms. I don’t think everyone quite understands the implications of normalizing this behavior, and to me that’s frightening.
To be clear, it isn't being shut down. A private company has chosen not to host it on its servers. They can invest in servers and host it themselves, if they so choose.
It may seem like splitting hairs, but it is an important distinction to make.
Sure that's possible, but what if their domain registrar disables their domain name? What if Verizon limits web traffic to and from the website? The idea that that could happen used to be far fetched, but now I wouldn't be surprised.
Domain registars seems a bit more of a sticky wicket. That is quite a bit more complex than simply hosting your own website, and I have no way around it and I'm unsure as to what the solution should be, TBH. I'd say it should be under governmental control, but they move at a snail's pace and I doubt they could handle the volume.
As for monitoring and throttling personal web traffic from our homes, that's long been an issue which is already an issue and not just with Verizon. EFF has brought suit in the courts, but to no avail, as of yet. So as for being far fetched, not only is it not, it's happening now. Comcast regularly throttles traffic to gaming sites/services during peak television hours. What's the difference?
Hilarious how historic government symbols and tradition are suddenly cool again, after a summer of statues, monuments, and buildings being vandalized and toppled.
All the people who died chose to be there. It's not like bystanders died. They knew the risks going in. Plus, one died of stroke and another of a heart attack. Blaming those deaths on Parler is a little hysterical.
Well, personally, I'll never do business with AWS again, and I'll advocate against using them every place I work from now on (I already argue against using proprietary AWS services in order to keep things portable). Does that matter much to them? No, but I can only control what I do.
For the record: I don't know if "shut down" is the optimal outcome. Credible moderation --- "no appeals to violence" --- would take it from dangerous to mere odiousness. But I don't know that anyone has a right to demand any private business host odious content, either.
But it's Parler's problem that they've hit this point with so little time to build credible moderation, not anybody else's. Me sowing, me reaping, &c &c.
Public discourse increasingly relies on these corporate platforms. I don’t think everyone quite understands the implications of normalizing this behavior, and to me that’s frightening.