More and more, tech companies are actively censoring and canceling people because of their opinions and beliefs. The most important right of a free people, their freedom to speak and express themselves is being attacked.
Now, these tech companies have every right to choose who they want to associate with and who they want to participate on their platforms. I guarantee the church moderates comments on their videos and on any of their own projects.
The issue is that many of these platforms have become so large that losing your ability to speak there makes you practically invisible altogether. On top of that, payment gateways can also cancel your ability to generate revenue and support yourself.
Silencing people removes their bad ideas from public discourse. Every day I see hundreds of bad ideas that I disagree with, that I think fall into the realm of toxic poison. But I think they should be allowed to say such things so that they can be compared with their opposing good ideas.
Over the years, I have taken action in the form of removing myself from platforms and businesses that practice silencing people for reasons I find unreasonable. Many of these businesses go much further in silencing truth and further perpetuating bad ideas.
To the greatest extent that is possible, I seek to remove power from these organizations by removing my participation.
To that end, I am sharing some of the alternative platforms that I use in hopes that they can be helpful to others that feel the same way I do and want to find other viable options.
I have no financial ties to any of these organizations and there are no monetized affiliate links below, just standard links.
Internet Browser
I only use the Brave browser which can be freely downloaded for both desktop and mobile platforms.
It does not track or sell your data like Google’s Chrome, Apple’s Safari, or others. On top of that, it has its own cryptocurrency, BAT (Basic Attention Token) which can be used to tip others or cash out in real dollars and is earned simply by turning on their own ad system.
I’ve earned about $30-$40 thus far and while the browser already blocks all ads across the web, it uses a small notification that you can click on or ignore that doesn’t interrupt you.
Brave is build on Google’s webkit platform so you can use Chrome extensions but it isn’t connected to Google’s databases.
Search Engine
I prefer Duck Duck Go as my search engine of choice and the one I use within the Brave browser on both desktop and mobile.
This search engine doesn’t track your searches or sell your data either. They also do not actively seek to suppress information like Google does while promoting results that fit their agenda.
Video
I have been using Bitchute.com for some time rather than YouTube. I had started to use YouTube for my Vlog videos because they have a solid platform but recent events have forced me to find another solution and I moved all my vlogs over to LBRY.com. (Videos available at lbry.tv)
This is a video platform where free speech is protected and cancel culture, shadow banning, and suppression of ideas is not practiced. They also have their own cryptocurrency and use it as a means for supporting content through tipping.
This one is a little tricky. I host my own email on my personal server versus using Google or any of the major corporations; this gives me autonomy and control over my data.
There are many companies out there like ProtonMail.com that provide secure email services outside of Google’s influence, but I don’t want to recommend any others that I haven’t used. Just know that it IS possible to find email solutions that are safer and respect your data.
Social media
Most social media platforms have become the great and spacious building incarnate and I am not active on most of them. While the possibility of spreading good messages there may have some value, it seems like it has the same value of putting a drop of pure water in a cesspool.
There are companies that do not bow the knee to Woke outrage. The largest is probably gab.com and then you have others like Jordan Peterson’s ThinkSpot.com.
The Good News
MySpace used to dominate the social media scene. Nobody thought that it could ever been unseated by a rival; then facebook appeared.
At the beginning of the social media revolution the core strategy was to generate massive amounts of revenue through data collection and sales. Offer free services in exchange for user information so they could track, market to, and control people for profit.
Governments get access to this data as well and these partnerships have opened the door for massive abuse and tyranny beyond anything humanity has ever faced. If that sounds extreme, you need to research this more.
The good news is that we have reached a new phase where we are beginning to see the danger, we are seeing these powerful organizations mobilizing to become political and seek to influence the nation’s politics and public discourse.
These organizations only have the power that we give them through our participation. Their power is extremely fragile because like MySpace, a better alternative can come along and crush them overnight.
This is why I think it is important to stop using their services and respect people’s privacy and speech. If you cherish your ability to think and speak freely, now is the time to take action. We are sliding toward a very bad place as a nation but we have the tools to prevent it.
I invite anyone who reads this to post alternatives they have found in the comments section below.
2 Comments
Those who support freedom and liberty, which are based on agency and accountability, face this unfortunate reality.
There are many options beyond those mentioned, and more will surely arise; and I second most of the above recommendations, not being familiar with all.
Some others to consider or look forward to:
* SearX is a metasearch engine that aggregates the results from the engines you choose. But as there appears to no longer be a main instance, you’ll have to choose one (such as from https://searx.space/).
* MeWe (https://mewe.com/) is a “No Ads. No Spyware. No BS.” Fakebook alternative.
* Minds https://www.minds.com/ is “the anti-Facebook that pays you for your time.”
* ISE Media Network is a forthcoming Fakebook/ThemTube alternative by Ben Swann: https://truthinmedia.com/introducing-ise-media-network/
But even with Brave, certain add-ons provide further or superior protections.
Moreover, yet stretching beyond the scope, there is the hardware and software we use and how we configure it, including the operating system.
Even further, the ideology of vendors may be a factor.
Should we not, as much as possible, be informed about the paradigms of the people behind the products, services, and causes we use or support? Do we want to support those who support something we do not? Change here may require hard choices, choices that not everyone has the time, energy, or interest to bother with. But, would not this degree of conscientiousness bolster our knowledge of and commitment to our choices? Might this also bolster our integrity?
For instance, although privacy advocates recommend Mozilla Firefox over Chromium-based browsers (such as Chromium itself, Google Chrome, Brave, and Edge), you may not support some of the causes that Mozilla supports.
We vote not only with our dollars but also our clicks.
Thanks for sharing some additional sites and ideas. Just as desensitization is the result of hundreds or thousands of small, individual experiences, retaking your life and liberty is the result of correct choices large and small.
Think of how many thousands of times a person will interact on a particular social media platform. Think of how those thousands of interactions prompt responses, sharing, reposting, etc. and how much revenue that brings in to these companies both in terms of ad impressions and clicks but also in terms of the profiles they are building on your and the data you are providing about yourself for them to sell.
Think of the devastating blow it is when one person suddenly ceases those interactions. It costs them a lot of money over the weeks, months, and years to not have you on there participating.
Still participate, but find better platforms and help others escape. You’re absolutely right, our clicks matter more than we know.