By John Friend
In yet another Orwellian move to curb and manipulate the free flow of information amongst and free speech of social media users, Facebook recently launched a trial run of a new “extremism warning” on its main platform for American Facebook users, the social media giant announced recently.
As part of the company’s Redirect Initiative, which aims to combat the vaguely defined concepts of “extremism” and “hate speech,” pop-up messages automatically load for certain users who either may have been exposed to “extremist content” or who may know someone who is becoming an “extremist,” followed by buttons below that redirect users to Facebook-support pages related to “extremism” and “deradicalization.”
“Are you concerned that someone you know is becoming an extremist?” one message reads. “We care about preventing extremism on Facebook. Others in your situation have received confidential support.” Directly below the message, users are informed that they can “hear stories and get advice from people who escaped violent extremist groups,” followed by a button reading “Get Support” which redirects users to a page dedicated to “deracializing extremists” created by Facebook and other far-left non-governmental organizations. The user also has an option to simply bypass the page by clicking a “close” button.
Many users are not at all pleased with the latest initiative by Facebook, part of a long-running campaign by one of the largest social media platforms in the world to combat “hate speech” and “extremism” online, terms which almost exclusively apply to pro-white activists, critics of illegal immigration, the state of Israel, and individuals who think critically about and dispute official government and media approved narratives regarding current and historical events.
“George Orwell really hit the nail on the head with 1984,” one commenter noted when critiquing the newly launched initiative. “Facebook is the modern-day Big Brother.”
Yet another message that is currently being tested in the trial run warns users that they “may have been exposed to harmful extremist content recently,” implying that users are not capable of thinking critically for themselves about the content they are viewing on Facebook’s platform.
“Violent groups try to manipulate your anger and disappointment,” the message reads. “You can take action now to protect yourself and others.”
Once again, directly below the message, a text box encourages the targeted user to “get support from the experts” in order to “spot the signs, understand the dangers of extremism and hear from people who escaped violent groups,” followed by a “get support” button redirecting the user to a Facebook-approved page dedicated to “deradicalization.”
Facebook’s trial run is part of a broader commitment it and other large social media platforms made to the Christchurch Call to Action campaign launched following the mass shooting that took place in New Zealand in 2019 which was live-streamed on Facebook. Major lobbying efforts to crack down on “hate speech” and “extremism” on social media platforms and other sites on the internet were launched in the aftermath, and have only increased in recent months, particularly following the so-called Capitol insurrection, a media-manufactured narrative designed to smear and dehumanize Donald Trump supporters and other patriotic Americans as radical, dangerous potential domestic terrorists and extremists.
“This test is part of our larger work to assess ways to provide resources and support to people on Facebook who may have engaged with or were exposed to extremist content, or may know someone who is at risk,” a Facebook spokesperson explained in an email statement following the announcement of the trial run. “We are partnering with NGOs and academic experts in this space and hope to have more to share in the future.”
Facebook and other social media giants typically consult with far-left partisan organizations and “experts,” including the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center, who influence and shape policy for the large tech platforms.
The latest initiative launched by Facebook has been met with skepticism by many users and commentators, indicating the blatant efforts to stifle free speech and free thought will be an uphill battle for the company. According to Warren Balough, a founder and leading member of the National Justice Party, the move by Facebook represents yet another sign of the radicalization of the liberal ruling elite which has become increasingly more and more disconnected from reality and the populist zeitgeist that has flourished in recent years.
“What is obviously happening to the Harvard- corporate-national security liberal elites is a process of self-radicalization,” Balough argued recently. “Twenty years of global war, plus a close brush with the actual forces of populism and discontent with the lives of their increasingly exploited and forgotten serf caste, have put them in a position where they are each trying to outdo the other in new calls for censorship, criminalizing free speech, using technology to spy on and control people, and the use of force to imprison and murder peaceful political dissidents.”
