Post by meiji on Jan 7, 2021 6:28:23 GMT -6
Today, the New York Times wrote an article attempting to place the blame for today's events on social media websites like Gab:
“On social media sites requested by the far-right, such as Gab…. directions on which streets to take to avoid the police and which tools to bring to help pry open doors were exchanged in comments.”
First: it appears that the Capitol Police allowed protestors into the Capitol complex.We do not control the Capitol Police.
Second: we work with law enforcement, state, federal, and international, to promote public safety. We proactively report when our moderation team discovers content which we believe poses an imminent threat to life and respond rapidly when law enforcement identifies any such threat. We do not comment on our communications with law enforcement in emergency situations, even when it is inconvenient to do so from a public relations perspective.
Third: we do not preemptively scan user content for criminal speech. Before the Capitol was occupied by protestors we had no idea what would come from today’s protests in D.C.
Third: as a result of app store bans, we do not have a mobile app. The majority of our users use Gab on desktop devices, which obviously are not easy to bring and use at a protest. The overwhelming majority of people using Gab today were observing the protest from home and reporting what they saw online.
Fifth: the people in attendance at today’s event in D.C. are on Twitter and Facebook, too, and in far larger numbers than Gab.
To be perfectly honest, organizations like the New York Times are the problem here. Over the course of 2020, political violence across the United States has been normalized by Democratic Party politicians and the mainstream media who excused away and refused to enforce the law against “peaceful protestors” – in reality violent agitators and domestic terrorists – who embarked upon various outrages including the occupation of several square blocks of Seattle, the setting fire to small businesses and federal buildings across the U.S., and yes, even forcing D.C. to board up on more than one occasion.
How quickly they forget the last night of the Republican National Convention when Rand Paul and other Republicans were assaulted by violent Antifa mobs after the Republican National Convention. The New York Times fired its opinions editor for publishing a piece by Tom Cotton to restore order with the same military our politicians are tonight deploying in our nation’s capital.
Two wrongs do not make a right. What happened today should be condemned. The protestors in D.C. today should have adhered to lawful orders given to them by the Capitol Police and not entered the U.S. Capitol building. They should not have fought the Capitol Policemen who were carrying out their duty to protect Congress as it carried out its constitutionally authorized role under Article 1.
But for the New York Times to pretend that Gab is the problem – noting that Gab officially has no political positions apart from respecting the First Amendment and being unashamedly pro-law and order- is to deny reality, which is that for many in the political establishment, their policy is to excuse away low-level political violence that serves their interests and only get outraged when it doesn’t.
Violence is always wrong. Our politicians and organizations like the New York Times have excused violence against American businesses and citizens, which we never have. No matter who is responsible or what cause they promote.
What happened today is not as unprecedented as the political class would have us believe. This is not the first mob that has attacked a government building in the United States this year – courthouses and police stations all over the United States have been attacked by anti-police activists year-round. Only six months ago, Nancy Pelosi decried law enforcement’s work to stop a dangerous mob from burning down a federal building in Portland as “political games” and “abuses of power.”
After today we hope our fellow citizens will say “enough” about the political bullshit from both sides. Do your jobs. If you had enacted policies at any point in the last 50 years that would have kept America safe this year from crime, voter fraud, illegal immigration, and domestic terrorists like Antifa – which government is currently failing to do – the American people would have a lot less to be angry about.
Gab provides an important safety valve by allowing people to exercise their constitutional rights. No more, no less. As and when we hear from law enforcement in this matter we will respond fully and expeditiously as is our policy. We will also keep those communications confidential, as is our policy.
Gab isn’t creating state failure in the United States. Our pathetic politicians are, enabled by their corporate media allies such as the New York Times.
God bless you and God bless America.
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