The world`s most popular tech companies continue their push to censor users. Earlier this month, Wordpress announced they would begin censoring the content of users hosted on the firm`s popular blogging platform. In the announcement, Wordpress indicated they would prohibit use of their platform for purposes other than those intended by its founders. The announcement comes on the heels of a wave of controversy surrounding popular social networks and accusations surrounding their alleged censorship of users on their platforms.
Wordpress is one of the world`s most popular blogging platforms, with millions of sites powered by the open source and hosted versions of its software. Over the years, the platform has expanded beyond blogging to become a full-featured content management system. Through add-ons called “plug-ins” and other customizations, thousands of companies use the open source software to power ecommerce websites, customer support portals, social networks and news websites. There are also hosting companies and software development firms that specialize in supporting the platform, due in large part to its widespread popularity and the software`s open source licensing.
The announcement from Wordpress is likely a big surprise to the thousands of individuals, groups and organizations that use the platform to host their blogs, websites and applications. The notion that huge swaths of these users, including those of the open source version, could face prohibitions limiting their use of the platform, should be troubling news for anyone that uses the Internet. Chances are, on a regular basis, you or someone you know accesses a website or application powered by Wordpress. The possibility that a significant number of these websites and applications could be forced to adapt or “censor” their content so that it more closely aligns with the viewpoints of Wordpress` founders, is troubling news.
Although ramifications for not following the edicts laid out by Wordpress` founders are unclear at this time, it`s hard to imagine a situation in which those that do not comply go untouched. For the hosted version of Wordpress, users could face warnings for not changing content, likely followed by feature limitations, account suspensions and, in extreme cases, outright deletion of websites and applications. For the open source version, it`s likely that Wordpress will transition from an open source license to a private license. This transition means that the open source version could very well go unsupported and lack future updates, leaving it wide open to attacks from hackers. And in the event that open source users transition to the privately licensed version, they could very well face the same ramifications faced by users of the hosted version.
If you`ve been following our blog, you know that holders of certain viewpoints, mainly those of republicans and conservatives, are facing attack after attack from activist tech companies and social media platforms. These attacks range from fact-checking disclaimers on their posts all the way through suspensions and deletion of accounts in their entirety. With the latest announcement from Wordpress, it appears that republicans and conservatives will soon find themselves lacking any type of platform to gather and share their viewpoints.
In our last post, we discussed Parler and their noble efforts to stem the tide of censorship directed at republicans and conservatives by offering a free and open alternative to the likes of Twitter and Facebook. And if you read that last post, you`ll know that although Parler should be applauded for their efforts, they`re only slowing the pace of what will soon become, on the web at least, a barren wasteland of republican and conservative viewpoints. In light of this, we feel there needs to be a complete rethinking of the way in which republicans and conservatives express their views and connect online. We need to come together and support platforms that embrace true, end-to-end decentralization. By doing so, we can put an end to the nefarious practices of activist tech companies and their crusade to cancel any and all viewpoints that differ from their own.
If you`re interested in learning more about true, end-to-end decentralization, visit https://dwebx.org. If you want to learn more about the first completely decentralized social network, visit https://dsocial.network. To support the development of free and open alternatives to platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Uber and Wordpress, go to https://peepsx.com/fund where you can learn how to become a Patriot`s Club member. If you would like to become part of the dWeb, download dBrowser for Windows, MacOS and Linux at https://peepsx.com/dbrowser
