Almost every internet user at one point will be in the unpleasant situation, having their favorite social media, video platform, or any website, blocking access to their account.
It happens frequently in social media (Twitter, Facebook), platforms like YouTube, forums like Reddit, and Medium.
Immediately makes us consider how much censorable the internet has nowadays become.
I sometimes recall the first crypto-anarchists like Timothy C. May writing the Crypto anarchist manifesto on privacy and anonymity and was reminded how the media moguls took over a pure and crude worldwide web and shaped it to a dumbed-down version of TV entertainment.
The State will of course try to slow or halt the spread of this technology, citing national security concerns, use of the technology by drug dealers and tax evaders, and fears of societal disintegration.
Just as the technology of printing altered and reduced the power of medieval guilds and the social power structure, so too will cryptologic methods fundamentally alter the nature of corporations and of government interference in economic transactions
Timothy C. May (1992) Source
This article was originally published at Hive, partially re-written, and republished.
The future is Decentralized
At the beginning of the 21st century, I never imagined there would be such unfairness and censorship on the internet twenty years later. This was all about freedom in the beginning, but at some point, it all changed.
I am against custodians, third parties, and all intermediaries. The future is decentralized and we all have to promote and protect the values of decentralized and censorship-resistant networks. Without sacrificing speed and mass adoption, though. This is not about the money of just an elite.
I would be more active writing about BTC and Ethereum if I found them to be providing a service to the world, but instead, they both grew as elitist tools of force and privilege.
Decentralization is of utmost importance, but it also has to be shared with the rest of the world, not just the 0.01% that can afford it. It is not a privilege for just a few.
This is my take on crypto and I did not betray my principles just for the “price go up” narrative. It gets odd every time I have to discuss this with the BTC crowd and every unfounded claim they make.
I noticed the bankers in crypto as soon as I joined in mid-2017. Had a few years of experience within the banking sector, so it wasn't difficult. If you know your enemies, it is easy to spot them immediately. Wasn’t difficult to find out how they were pushing the story of required regulations for BTC to become mass adopted. This is not a fresh notion, “required regulations” was a discussion for years, almost right after Blockstream appeared in the field.
25 years of Internet Censorship & Reshaping Personalities
It is frustrating when our account gets suspended.
We feel excluded and censored, but after a while, we learn, this is just a typical behavior by most social media, online platforms, and forums.
The current state of the internet is pitiful.
We witness a crusade by social media and top websites to re-shape our thinking process, which is even worse than banning a user.
The thought police. The censorship and inability to express ourselves.
Twitter treats its users like mindless fools.
It censors content and suspends accounts just because they don’t fit its agenda. There is no free speech on the internet today.
All the social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) and the content platforms (YouTube, Medium, etc.) are centralized and censorable. They follow the wishes of certain powerful individuals and shape opinions.
There is this anachronistic perception of monitoring the users’ behavior under a strict set of rules. Rules that often make no sense to anyone at all.
Isn’t this a red flag?
The internet used to be full of opportunities and freedom. Yet, it all faded away within 20-25 years. All websites gradually fell at the hands of a few media moguls.
The internet today, despises one subject:
Our opinion.
Especially when it contradicts the higher interests each mainstream platform is promoting.
In Conclusion
Many problems arise with the exploitation of freedom of speech, as well.
There are illegal activities, that depend on the interpretation of the law in each jurisdiction. Yet, there are also highly illegal and immoral acts that can cause an outcry inside any community. There is a thin line between freedom of speech and the exploitation of this freedom.
It is not an authoritarian approach to combat spam. It needs to be filtered out as well. Plagiarism is another menace to any platform and it is unethical to steal the work of other writers. Then there are despicable acts I can't even mention, some perform and try to monetize online.
A decentralized blockchain permanently records everything. A platform, running on top of a blockchain has certain restrictions and governance, though. Even if a certain topic is removed from the plain view of the website, it will still always remain recorded on the blockchain, however restrictions should be minimal and contained by consensus.
This is the wonder of blockchain technology. The decentralized blockchains, though. Tamper-proof, and censorship-resistant. We need an expansion of censorship-resistant websites running on top of decentralized networks.
Originally Published at Hive (re-written)
Images:
Lead Image from: Pixabay
Follow me on: ● ReadCash ● NoiseCash ● Medium ● Hive ● Steemit ●Vocal ● Minds ● Twitter ● LinkedIn ●Reddit ● email ● tipb.ch
DISCLAIMER: All material published in this content, is used for entertainment and educational purposes and falls within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this article, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email.
No financial advice intended. DYOR.
SLP and SmartBCH Wallets:
SLP: simpleledger:qp77an8yy98kgarhgmhurvmcrxslth0v9qgft6ypqk
SmartBCH: 0x2c09bc07354bad5b5c04b3661148d50a5fc087bc
Don't forget to Subscribe and Like if you enjoyed this article!
really this is good