FreeSpeech: Parler CEO re BigSoc Censors - It's Not Against The Law To Have Those Opinions

[grarpamp]

https://www.theepochtimes.com/parler-ceo-defends-free-speech-its-not-against-the-law-to-have-those-opinions_3584197.html
https://video.foxnews.com/v/6210514362001


The CEO of Parler, which has been described as an alternative to
Twitter, defended free speech in an interview on Tuesday in the midst
of mainstream media-led criticism of the social media platform.

“People say crazy things all the time,” and “it’s not against the law
to have those opinions,” Parler CEO John Matze told Fox News. He was
responding to a question about why establishment media outlets have
taken an increasingly critical tone against the platform.

    “I always ask them, ‘What do you think of the First Amendment? Do
you believe that we should have somebody in New York, let’s say in the
middle of Times Square, telling you what you can and cannot say?’”
Matze said.

    “Because that’s what these companies are doing.”

    “I don’t know why they’re so afraid. Maybe it’s because they don’t
like that people are getting power again,” he continued.

    “But it’s not against the law to have those opinions,” Matze added.

    “It’s not against the law to express yourself. And if you like one
political candidate or another, or you believe or don’t believe in
climate change,” he continued, “you shouldn’t be taken offline because
of it.”

After the Nov. 3 elections, Parler has seen a boost in users and
traffic, coming after some conservative pundits and officials moved to
the platform from Twitter.

The firm in late September posted a message about Election Day, saying
it will be “a hub for unfettered, curation-free information before,
during, and after the November 3 election.” The firm then took a shot
at Facebook, Google, and Twitter for attempting to control the flow of
information.

    “Google, Facebook, and Twitter, by contrast, have announced plans
to control the dissemination of ‘misinformation,’ which means, in
effect: to take it upon themselves to tell their users what
information they should trust and, ultimately, what they should
think,” it said.

The three firms have posted disclaimers, fact checks, and have limited
the reach on posts that allegedly run afoul of narratives they seek to
promote.

Matze’s comments come as Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark
Zuckerberg came under fire from Senate Republicans in a Judiciary
Committee hearing on Tuesday.

    “That to me seems like you’re the ultimate editor,” committee
chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said during his opening
statement to the two CEOs. “The editorial decision by the New York
Post to run the story was overridden by Twitter and Facebook in
different fashions to prevent its dissemination. Now if that’s not
making an editorial decision I don’t know what would be.”

Some media pundits as well as researchers have complained that Parler
allows for the spread of so-called conspiracy theories or
disinformation. Bret Schafer, a fellow focusing on disinformation at
the Alliance for Securing Democracy, told The Hill:

    “Anytime you take a laissez-faire approach to moderation —you say
‘anything goes’ right up until actual threats of real world
violence—that creates a huge space for some really problematic things
to happen.”

He didn’t provide any evidence that showed whether views expressed on
Parler have led to violence.