Self-censorship is Bad for your Health

Received an email from Google's Ad Sense warning (paraphrased) that any mention of the war in Ukraine, their Rules of Conduct, will come into effect, and my post will be censored. Firstly I receive no ad revenue from this organization. Over the last 4 years, my current BLOG has had many opinions about politics and war. I knew instinctively that my essays and articles would not reach their level of qualification for advertisements. Too controversial. On the other hand, sending me this "warning revealed the extent of censorship across all social media platforms.

No more than 7 years ago, Facebook was the platform to express my views and communicate with old friends. My posts included severe criticisms of the Israel/Palestinian conflict. For a few years, Syria was a central bone of contention. My comments on Iraq and Libya were also highly critical of the mainstream narratives. The Afghanistan war was highly criticized. None of these posts were censored. After Trump was banished from social media at the end of the 2020 presidential election, I was put in FB jail for commenting on the useless violence of war. What changed?

Well, at face value, the only noticeable change is the democratic party came into power. You may call it a coincidence, but that is certainly when it began. And from that time, the censorship has become steadily worse. More independent journalists have disappeared. Glenn Greenwald left The Intercept for being censored on the Biden Laptop scandal. It suddenly became difficult to find independent news sites. RT has been banned, including left-wing voices who never spoke of Russia but only criticized US government policies. The establishment is silencing all dissent. Silencing any voice that challenges the mainstream narrative. Absurdly, the only argument used by the establishment is you must be spreading Russian propaganda; you're a right-wing nutter, a white supremacist, or a Nazi. The social media giants use their 'Rules of Conduct', which are usually vague and ambiguous as to how you violated these rules.

It has become a cliche to call this current environment Orwellian. But if you have ever read Orwell's 1984 or any of his political essays cannot deny our current plight:

A violation of the US Constitution on Free Speech and Freedom of the Press.

The Julian Assange case is a prime example of crushing free speech and the press. Assange's illegal persecution/prosecution is a direct violation of the Constitution. But, more importantly, these actions are a warning to all investigative journalists and whistle-blowers: print "classified information" or the crimes of governments, and you will be prosecuted as well. You'll end up like Assange: in a dark hole.

Unfortunately, these sociopaths in power mean business.

So now, sitting in front of my keyboard, I second guess myself, fearing being banished from the public square. Will I be punished for writing this opinion or piece of reliable data?

This thought process is not healthy.

I was taught never to second-guess myself.

This current environment of censorship is a tool of authoritarianism.

Only one "truth" is permitted, that of the State.

This is not democracy but something else altogether.