Big Tech and Big Trump
Donald Trump has been treating big tech in a very similar manner to how Ingsoc treated Emmanuel Goldstein. He and his followers spend all this time and effort hating them, day in and day out, to the most extreme proportions. But at the end of the day, the only reason big tech can exist is because of Donald Trump.
The Hill, one of the few remaining reliable news sources, reported a couple of days ago on Facebook hiring lawyers who helped write and defend the US PATRIOT Act.
Facebook announced in a press release on Monday that Jennifer Newstead, currently the legal adviser to the State Department, will be taking over for the departing Colin Stretch.
Trump is also in on this, Newstead has been a legal adviser for the Department of State since 1/22/2018, meaning he was the one who appointed her. She is also credited with helping draft the 2001 United States PATRIOT Act, which was the biggest government surveillance project of its time.
Viet Dinh, then assistant to John Ashcroft, said the following about Newstead in 2002:
Her enhanced leadership duties and her excellent service on a range of issues — including helping craft the new U.S.A. Patriot Act to protect the United States against terror — have earned her this important distinction. She is first among equals.
This should surprise no one. To paraphrase Mr.Enter, who big tech is not a fan of, Facebook is the type of program that would make every dictator wet with anticipation. Not only that but, as Enter has pointed out, through subpoena power Facebook has basically worked with the government to repeal the 4th amendment.
A day after this came out, Trump invited Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to the White House. Let us not forget, he fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions while he was looking into censorship done by Big Tech companies. Do you think that was a coincidence?
The fact is, Facebook and Twitter get massive amounts of government cash from the Trump administration. Facebook would actually not be able to make a profit if it was not for that money.
Sources have said the conversation was about “the health of the public conversation on Twitter,” whatever that means. Might I remind you, Twitter has banned people who tell Evan McMullin a deep state exists, people for violating the laws of Pakistan, and a Bernie supporter who made a spoof account of Peter Daou! Side note: Since Daou now supports Sanders, will Twitter have to ban him?
Make no mistake, Trump and his buddies love the surveillance of Facebook. If they didn’t, they would be fighting for the establishment of the power to subpoena. A power the government pulled out of nowhere in order to help abolish your 4th amendment right.
They also love censorship done by Twitter, they just don’t like how it’s their guys getting censored. In 2017, a man was arrested for questioning Health and Human Services Sectary Tom Price, where was Donald then?
The president has the power to do whatever he wants, either he is simply aloof or he is an active supporter of what he himself claims to be an injustice.
