Tag Archives: censorship

Governor DeSantis – Herald for a Second Dark Age

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Way back when, a herald was a man (of course) who made public pronouncements, often on behalf of a king. He was the “bringer of news,” as it were. Also, way back when, we had the Dark Ages, a term apparently disfavored now, but still in use to signify a period of intellectual and cultural decay in the Middle Ages (roughly the 5th through 10th centuries). Then came the Renaissance and Scientific Revolutions leading to the Enlightenment, roughly the 17th & 18th Centuries, characterized as including,

a range of ideas centered on the value of human happiness, the pursuit of knowledge obtained by means of reason and the evidence of the senses, and ideals such as natural law, liberty, progress, toleration, fraternity, constitutional government, and separation of church and state.

Western Europe and the United States (born in 1789 with ratification of the Constitution) were in the ascendancy and eventually the U.S. became one of the world’s so-called superpowers. In the U.S. freedom of expression, intellectual disputation and many other forces of democracy and personal freedom flourished on and off, at least compared with what came before and what was going on in most other countries.

Democracy as practiced here and in most other countries that have it (not many) is a rough and tumble messy affair. Many people have disparate ideas about what constitutes the good life, moral behavior and just about everything else. But underlying all the chaos was, we have believed, the underlying agreement that it was ok to have disparate ideas as long as everyone was treated with some measure of tolerance and respect. It was, in short, okay to disagree.

And, to seal the deal, the U.S. Constitution makes clear in the very first Amendment after initial adoption that “freedom of speech” is among the five most prized freedoms we have in this country: (the full five are freedom of speech, press, petition, assembly, and religion).

The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, nicknamed DeathSantis because his policies during the COVID pandemic almost certainly led to the unnecessary deaths of many thousands of Floridians, sees things differently now that he wants to be president of the United States. His path to glory lies through the delusional mass of Trump acolytes, and DeSantis is fine with catering to their every fear and bigotry if it paves his path to power.

Thus, we have the spectacle of DeSantis opposing the use of Advance Placement courses that cover topics he, on behalf of the STATE, finds objectionable. The topics in question? Well, of course, it was the new AP African American studies course.

The state education department, based on its view of preliminary documents, declared in January that the African American studies course “lacks educational value.”  [https://wapo.st/3nihZ92]

Of course, Florida’s governor doesn’t want Florida’s students to learn about African American history. He’d rather put Florida students at a competitive disadvantage against other states’ kids in the highly competitive arena of college education. Keep ‘em ignorant and in Florida. That’s the ticket.

But to prove it’s not just about bigotry, DeSantis suggested at a press conference that he had problems with allAP classes in Florida schools. These long-standing programs cover many subjects, including math, science, social sciences, humanities, languages and more. In fact, some AP courses were being offered a hundred years ago when I was in high school. Who knew what terrible consequences would result from having educated students, steeped in history and the rest?

The Washington Post reports that more than 199,000 Florida students enrolled in AP classes in 2020-21. Some 366,000 AP tests were given in Florida in 2021, more than in any other state except Texas (527,000) and California (683,000). Florida’s students must think these courses are valuable.

But, no worries, the state government under DeSantis will straighten them out:

The state Department of Education contends that the class is “inexplicably contrary to Florida law.” A new education law championed by DeSantis requires lessons on race be taught in “an objective manner” and “not used to indoctrinate or persuade students to a particular point of view.” Some education advocates and teachers say the law is so broadly framed that it is having a chilling effect on the teaching of Black history.

The state Education Department, under the governor’s thumb, listed “concerns” in the curriculum, including topics covering “Intersectionality and Activism,” “Black Feminist Literary Theory” and “Black Queer Studies.”

“Now who would say that an important part of Black history is queer theory?” DeSantis said at a news conference this week. “That is somebody pushing an agenda on our kids.”

There are indications that the College Board is considering modifications to the AP curricula to mollify DeSantis. A Florida Department of Education spokesman was quoted to claim that “Critical Race Theory, Black Queer Studies, Intersectionality, and other topics … violate our law.” What law that is remains something of a mystery, but it seems clear that the current government of Florida wants to keep its students ignorant of subjects that are mainstream issues in America today. Ignorance, the saying claims, is bliss.

This article from January 2023 recounts much of the controversy. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/01/25/desantis-african-american-studies-black-history/

Here are a collection of articles discussing the DeSantis fascist impact:

Florida teachers strip classroom shelves of books in response to DeSantis ban https://tinyurl.com/bderbwmk

Florida GOP Senate advances bill to revoke Disney’s special tax status https://tinyurl.com/mtn7xv8j

DeSantis takes on Disney in a culture war with national implications https://tinyurl.com/4f3m35j5

DeSantis signs bill requiring survey of Florida students, professors on their political views https://tinyurl.com/4fkm9tvu

‘Goes beyond ignorance’ Historians slam DeSantis’ claims about American slavery https://www.alternet.org/2022/09/ron-desantis-2658332899

OpinionBeware, DeSantis is as much a threat to America as Trump  https://tinyurl.com/5n8xb29y

DeSantis pushes to permanently ban Covid-19 mandates in Florida https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/18/politics/desantis-covid-policy-florida/index.html

Florida, Missouri tell Justice Department voting monitors to stay outside polling places https://tinyurl.com/zjxn2cj2

Disney World halts vaccine requirement for workers after Florida restricts employer mandates https://tinyurl.com/bs7a6fbk

University of Florida bars faculty members from testifying in voting rights lawsuit against DeSantis administration https://tinyurl.com/bdhncjus

Ron DeSantis Is Getting His Mask Advice From A Psychiatrist Pushing Ivermectin https://tinyurl.com/mr3mhsu4

In Florida, DeSantis cut jobless aid just as virus began terrifying new wave https://tinyurl.com/2mrd9vm4

In push against ‘indoctrination,’ DeSantis mandates surveys of Florida college students’ beliefs https://tinyurl.com/2eypzdp4

DeSantis says he will pardon Floridians charged with violating pandemic rules: ‘They’ve been treated poorly’ https://tinyurl.com/4rrfzy4b

YouTube removes video of DeSantis coronavirus roundtable https://tinyurl.com/2rnh4jak

Coronavirus ravaged Florida, as Ron DeSantis sidelined scientists and followed Trump https://tinyurl.com/2p977ps6

The College Board Strips Down Its A.P. Curriculum for African American Studies https://tinyurl.com/2kfsakw8

The essence of the DeSantis phenomenon is that he is trying to out-Trump Trump to siphon Trump’s most deranged supporters and get himself elected president. It’s a fool’s errand, but DeSantis is determined. In the process, Florida will be a place where ignorance is valued over knowledge and, ironically, “political correctness” right-wing style will become essential to electoral success. At least unless and until the people of Florida wake up to the reality of how their national standing is going to be undermined by the arrival of the new Dark Ages in their state.

An Uncensored View of Facebook “Censorship”

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I have no problem with a social media platform that, having given the multitudes free rein to publish their views for others to see, has finally decided to address the use of the platform for promoting false information about, among other things, public health, politics, public policy issues (guns, for example). The attempt to prevent the use of these generally free platforms to spread disinformation is not subject to “free speech” principles under the First Amendment that only relates to government action. In fact, and in law, attempts to have the government interfere with the content-control policies of private platforms are themselves, in most cases, in conflict with the First Amendment.

The issues are complex, obviously. To some of us, there are some “opinions” that simply are based on false ideas and platforms do not have to serve as passive instruments for the spreading of such information. Examples abound but certainly include the QAnon conspiracy theory, the claim that the 2020 election was rife with fraud and the claim that the January 6 attack on the Capitol was not actually Trump supporters but was BLM and other left-wing groups pretending to be Trump supporters.

On that latter issue, I cannot fail to note the “reasoning” behind the Trumpers’ argument that the winners of the election, disguised as Trump supporters, tried to stop the certification of the Biden victory and install the person those left-wing groups despise the most as president and dictator. As one Twitter meme notes, to believe that takes a special kind of stupid.  Nevertheless, it appears that many Americans have convinced themselves that the claim is true. Facebook, in my view, has no obligation to allow the propagation of such nonsense by permitting postings containing that claim.

Now, considering what I’m about to tell you, you may chuckle to yourself and think, “well, wise guy, you got hoisted by your own petard,” because Facebook has “censored” one of your posts. Ha ha ha.

It is true that Facebook “unpublished” one of my posts. It was this one: Time for Strong Action Against Unruly Air Travelers, https://bit.ly/38m76Zb Facebook said the post violated its Community Standards because it was “spam.” Facebook defines “spam” this way:

We don’t allow people to get likes, follows, shares or video views in a way that’s misleading to others.

We define spam as things like:

·      Repeating the same comment

·      Getting fake likes, follows, shares or video views

·      Coordinating likes and shares to mislead others about the popularity of something

At that point in the Facebook process, you are given two choices: Back or Continue. Choose Continue and you get this gem:

You disagreed with the decision

We usually offer the chance to request a review, and follow up if we got decisions wrong

We have fewer reviewers available right now because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. We’re trying hard to prioritize reviewing content with the most potential for harm.

This means we may not be able to follow up with you, though your feedback helps us do better in the future.

Thank you for understanding.

Here you have one “choice:” Close.

So, Facebook has blocked the post but has no process by which to question that action. But, hey, thanks for understanding.

There are many aspects to this. First, the post was placed on my blog on May 25 and was placed on Facebook manually by me that same day per my usual practice. The notice from Facebook announcing my “violation” arrived August 26. I have no idea when the public’s view of the post was blocked. Facebook doesn’t know, doesn’t care.

Second, there is no plausible way that Facebook’s “system” could rationally conclude that the post in question was a repeat comment (I post each blog post manually on Facebook in two distinct places – my timeline and, if and only if relevant to the purposes of the group, to a private group of which I am a member; I have done this dozens of times and never been challenged by Facebook for duplicate postings).

Third, the post in question was simply placed on Facebook by inserting the link to it. No rational inference could be drawn that doing so was for the purpose of “Getting fake likes, follows, shares or video views,” whatever that means.

Fourth, there is no evidence, because it did not happen, that I tried “coordinating likes and shares to mislead others about the popularity of something.” I would have no idea how to do that even if I wanted to. And I don’t. The item was posted to be read by those interested.

It is a fact, however, that the post about unruly air passengers is the third most-read post since I started the blog. The explanation for that is simple: air travel is a popular subject, many of my followers are in the travel industry and … never mind, it’s just too obvious.

So, what are we left with as the explanation for Facebook’s delayed “decision” to “unpublish” my post is one thing: INCOMPETENCE. The so-called artificial intelligence that manages the Facebook censorship process is simply unable to do its job properly.

Is this better or worse than the purposes attributed to Facebook by many on the political right and the political left who claim every day that Facebook is engaged in some pernicious politically motivated campaign to stifle the views of the [insert ‘right’ or ‘left’ here]? I don’t know.

It’s dangerous, of course, to generalize from a single experience, but the Facebook action to bury my post seems blatantly unreasonable and downright stupid. It would be silly to think that Facebook’s algorithms were written to promote dangerous behavior on airplanes. Not even the most dedicated QAnon believer would …. well, those people might believe it but no one else would.

The action could not be the product of conscious thought by a rational person or “reviewer” as Facebook calls them. The post related to a public policy problem – a growing number of air travelers refusing to comply with flight crew instructions and airline policies regarding, among other things, wearing of masks to combat the spread of COVID. The passengers in question have engaged in various acts of violence that have, among other things, threatened the safety of aircraft in flight. Serious stuff. Some of them are being visited by huge fines for their misconduct. My argument was that the government should crack down even harder on that behavior. I proposed several additional policy actions that could help.

For some inexplicable reason, Facebook rates that as “spam.”

The most disturbing aspect of this, beyond the plain stupidity of it, is that Facebook has essentially said, “we’re too short-handed here to review your objection to our action, so… get lost. Thanks for understanding.” Not a chance.

Facebook’s financial statements for 2020 show more than $85 billion in Gross Revenue, an increase of 22 percent over 2019; Income from Operations up 36%; Operating Margin of 38%; Net Income up 58% and Provision for Income Taxes -58%. That’s right. Taxes down 58% with income up 58%.

If it chose to do so, Facebook can afford to hire more reviewers so that it’s “decisions” to block content are not merely arbitrary and capricious, yet it chooses to say, “so sorry, we’re short-handed so drop dead.” This strategy may work in the short term – it is in fact working now – but I question whether it’s viable in the long-term. On the other hand, this approach to business has worked for many giant companies in the past for extended periods. See Climate Change. Until, usually, competition did them in or forced major changes in how they do business. See American Automobile Companies. Time will tell about Facebook.

Meanwhile, yes, I am posting this post on Facebook. We’ll see what happens.