Yesterday, Google removed the Parler app from its Google Play store, and Apple is threatening to do it and might have by the time you read this. They’re demanding that Parler impose the same kind of monitoring of speech that Twitter, Facebook and Google’s YouTube do, to “protect” us from the tiny segment of far-right users who might be using the sites to incite violence and spread misinformation, as they define it. There are also countless legitimate users on Parler, including me: https://parler.com/profile/MikeHuckabee/posts
A reminder: These tech giants have allowed leftist groups such as Antifa and BLM to use their sites to organize protests that turned into riots, they allow violent rhetoric and death threats aimed at conservatives, and they’ve even turned a blind eye to Iran posting “death to America” rhetoric. But they ban the US President and those who support him.
Congressional Republicans made a big mistake in not reining in their partisan monopolistic practices when they had the chance. That won’t happen now, but I expect to see a flood of lawsuits following this, along with product boycotts and a mass exodus of millions of users. But where will they go if these leftist corporations abuse their power to strangle or force censorship onto alternative sites?
I asked our pop culture expert, Pat Reeder, for some tips on that. Here’s what he wrote back…
“I’m far from a tech expert, but I’ve been working via computer since before there was an Internet, so I’ve picked up a few tips.
First of all, why are you still paying premium prices to Apple? It’s not as if Steve Jobs still runs the place. They appear to be putting far more thought, time and energy into censorship, leftist virtue-signaling and kissing China’s rump than into R&D and consumer satisfaction these days. Here’s an example of how they’re doing lately, and it’s only one of countless such videos on YouTube (just search for ‘Apple sucks.’)
Currently, Parler’s app for cell phones is available at Parler.com only by clicking on icons that take you to the Google or Apple app stores. But there’s nothing stopping them from offering it for direct download, which I suspect is coming very soon. Here’s an article about how that works with apps that Apple decides you shouldn’t be allowed to have:
As for the Android version that’s been banned from the Google Play Store, if you don’t have it already, try here:
If you scroll down, you’ll also find the app for MeWe, a free speech alternative to Facebook. But I’d suggest you do it quickly. (Another is CloutHub.com.)
If that doesn’t work, try here…
And there are others, if you look hard. Remember, you can always subscribe to Parler and use it through your tablet, laptop or desktop by signing up at www.parler.com, which I hope you’ll be accessing through a browser that protects your privacy (NOT Google Chrome!) Here’s some information comparing some top choices. Firefox is rated #1, as long as you go into the Settings and disable the functions that send information back to its parent, Mozilla.
Worse comes to worse, conservatives can abandon these social media sites entirely and go back to independent blog sites and web pages, which prevailed before the big Facebook/Twitter takeover. Or just hang out at www.mikehuckabee.com, where you get real news, brilliant writing and a comments section.
Remember, it’s called ‘free speech’ because no matter how hard some people try to cage it, it will always find a way to escape.
UPDATE! Well, Mozilla just went full-on social justice censorship warrior, so skip over Firefox and move down the browser list. Still laughing that their link on the words “amplify factual voices” goes to an article from the New York Times.
While we’re on the subject, were you aware that one reason Chromebook laptops are so cheap is that they don’t have internal memory? Everything you search for (on Google Chrome, of course), write or store is placed in a cloud memory owned by Google. Why not just send Google your tax forms, or go on vacation with your front door open?
And remember that www.Rumble.com is the free speech alternative to Google-owned YouTube.
UPDATE: Amazon has said it is removing Parler from it's service effective today.
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