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The Manipulators: Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Big Tech's War on Conservatives
For better or for worse, Google and social media—“Big Tech,” collectively—have become the new public square. Unfortunately, this public square has a watchful referee standing behind them, ready and waiting to blow the whistle if they veer too far from the preferred narrative. Americans have given these companies enormous power to select the information they read, share and discuss with their neighbors and friends. We’ve gotten so used to it, we forget to notice that Big Tech is sifting through the available information and narrowing—and prioritizing—our choices. What happens when that power is weaponized for political ends? Although Big Tech positioned itself initially as providing politically neutral platforms, the truth is that this is no longer the case—far from it.
Daily Caller reporter Peter Hasson reveals in The Manipulators that Big Tech is using its huge financial and technological power to severely restrict access to conservative voices and ideas and to rig public debate in favor of America’s political left wing. This happens in two ways: 1) By censoring and suppressing right-of-center voices and ideas, which restricts access to information that counters the progressive narrative 2) By purposefully amplifying left-wing voices and ideas, which creates the false impression that public consensus lines up with progressive orthodoxy.
RUNNING TIME ➼ 6hrs. and 20mins.
©2020 Peter Hasson (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Daily Caller reporter Peter Hasson reveals in The Manipulators that Big Tech is using its huge financial and technological power to severely restrict access to conservative voices and ideas and to rig public debate in favor of America’s political left wing. This happens in two ways: 1) By censoring and suppressing right-of-center voices and ideas, which restricts access to information that counters the progressive narrative 2) By purposefully amplifying left-wing voices and ideas, which creates the false impression that public consensus lines up with progressive orthodoxy.
RUNNING TIME ➼ 6hrs. and 20mins.
©2020 Peter Hasson (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
- GenresNonfictionPolitics
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First published February 4, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 17, 2020
This book has a little foul language in it that is used only when quoting the manipulators. Otherwise, this is an excellent book. Important and informative.
February 23, 2020
A perfect piece of investigative journalism. I can’t overemphasize how thorough and well constructed this book is. The bibliography alone is worth the price of the book - but don’t stop there.
Results of interviews are inserted into a timeline of events that have moved the American ethos from an equal exchange of ideas to one of Corporate led fascism. Corporate control limits Social Media to not only the actual text, but the participation in the field of exchange to those deemed worthy by the Thought Police. Many examples cited.
Focus is US, with a few references to UK, Germany and France.
I very highly recommend this book. A quick read with a massive impact.
Results of interviews are inserted into a timeline of events that have moved the American ethos from an equal exchange of ideas to one of Corporate led fascism. Corporate control limits Social Media to not only the actual text, but the participation in the field of exchange to those deemed worthy by the Thought Police. Many examples cited.
Focus is US, with a few references to UK, Germany and France.
I very highly recommend this book. A quick read with a massive impact.
March 25, 2020
Very depressing leaving little hope for our future. The world is going into lock down of speech. The true liberal who defends the right of free speech as the basic democratic tool has virtually lost the war. This book will confirm what most conservatives already know. The one hope I came away with is that when people read this book, they will understand that it is almost too late to restore the political balance in western civilization. Then they will join what has now become the revolutionary side and act however they can.
I recommend this book to all who love their freedom, read it, get mad and fight back.
I recommend this book to all who love their freedom, read it, get mad and fight back.
June 16, 2020
Fantastic book with many relevant arguments in today’s age. Of course, all Democrats will give this book a low rating irrespective of the quality of work. A lot of eye opening data supported by great arguments. Peter Hasson goes into great detail about what is happening with media and politics.
May 6, 2021
The author lays out a case about censorship by mainstream media as well as social media giants Facebook, Google, and Twitter. He claims that the media intentionally stiffle free speech from Conservatives while freely advocating Liberal views creating an uneven playing field. An important read.
October 16, 2020
Timely, thorough research on Facebook, Google, Twitter, & YouTube censorship; a must-read for 2020.
Facebook’s and Twitter’s most recent violation of First Amendment free speech rights is only one episode in Big Tech’s decades-long censorship. Hasson provides a remarkable account of how social media companies (which were supposed to be bastions of free speech) became the monopolies and dictators that they are.
Of course, conservatives, pro-lifers, and Republicans always knew that social media companies opposed Judeo-Christian values such as free speech, heterosexual normativity, etc. Now, the larger American public knows that no one is safe from these companies’ suppression of free speech.
The people whom Big Tech targets are champions of conservative and pro-life causes, including the following. Facebook censored Franklin Graham for expressing Christian values (40). Twitter censored Ray Blanchard’s research on transgenderism as a “mental disorder” (95). Twitter exerted extreme bias against pro-life activist Lila Rose of Live Action (115ff). Big Tech used the leftist Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) to slander human rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali as anti-Muslim (126). The SPLC attacked Dr. Ben Carson as “an extremist for simply stating the traditional Christian belief that marriage is the sacramental union of a man and a woman” (128).
Hasson discusses a wide variety of topics on Big Tech’s oppression and suppression of free speech and identifies its numerous bad actors. Ninety-nine per cent of Silicon Valley employees’ political donations went to Hillary (15). Facebook manipulates “trending topics” on behalf of the racist organization Black Lives Matter (24). Big Tech supports the abortion business Planned Parenthood, which worked with anti-Semitic elements in the Women’s March (112). Hasson also explores in depth Facebook’s and Google’s huge profits and their collaboration with Communist China (173).
Although most of the book raises one’s blood pressure, at least two items are utterly laughable. A Google employee “who identifies as both ‘a yellow-scaled wingless dragonkin’ and ‘an expansive ornate building’” complained that the word “family” suggested a heterosexual couple with children (55)! Wha-what? Such an employee needs psychological help.
The second example of Big Tech’s idiocy involves Snopes and its “fact-checking” of a Babylon Bee satire: “CNN Purchases Industrial-Sized Washing Machine to Spin News before Publication” (133). What idiot would believe that this had to be “fact-checked”?
Two chapters should be required reading for all Journalism students (especially at leftist academic institutions) and for all pro-life activists: chapter five “Twitter’s Free Speech Farce” (79-107) and chapter 6 “Purging Pro-Lifers” (109-22).
Faculty and student researchers will greatly appreciate Hasson’s “Notes” (APA and MLA style references), which run 39 pages (185-224). The hard work has already been done for you.
Some lines from the book are eminently quotable and could inspire high school and college students to write some masterly essays. For example:
“Donald Trump’s election in 2016 sent a shockwave through the liberal political and media establishment” (3).
“Social media represents a real threat to the political monoculture enforced by elite institutions” (5).
“At Google, diversity doesn’t apply to diversity of thought, and inclusion doesn’t apply to orthodox Christians or social conservatives” (51).
“It’s important to keep in mind: the people offended by the word ‘family’ are the same ones whose product you trust for accurate answers when you type in ‘what is a family?’” (56).
“Most people searching for ‘abortion’ on YouTube [are] looking for information and viewpoints that CNN won’t show, which is why pro-life content outperforms pro-abortion content when the playing field is neutral” (71).
“Google is: an ideologically left-leaning company staffed by people who resent the right’s success on its massive video platform and are actively working to counter it” (77).
[Quoting an abortion wrongs activist] “People on Facebook engage with anti-abortion [sic] content more than abortion-rights [sic] content at a ‘disproportionate rate’” (114).
“The rise of populist movements around the world and Big Tech’s all-encompassing censorship regime are on a collision course” (169).
Fortunately, despite the billions of dollars that Big Tech’s dictators have, Hasson’s book is eminently encouraging. Under the “Make It Hurt” heading in the final chapter, Hasson offers this advice: “What conservatives should not do is abandon Big Tech platforms. That is simply surrendering—and conservatives do that far too often” (181; italics on "not" in original). He even offers his email to encourage people to report “cases of unfair digital censorship”: PeterJHasson@protonmail.com (181-2).
Facebook’s and Twitter’s most recent violation of First Amendment free speech rights is only one episode in Big Tech’s decades-long censorship. Hasson provides a remarkable account of how social media companies (which were supposed to be bastions of free speech) became the monopolies and dictators that they are.
Of course, conservatives, pro-lifers, and Republicans always knew that social media companies opposed Judeo-Christian values such as free speech, heterosexual normativity, etc. Now, the larger American public knows that no one is safe from these companies’ suppression of free speech.
The people whom Big Tech targets are champions of conservative and pro-life causes, including the following. Facebook censored Franklin Graham for expressing Christian values (40). Twitter censored Ray Blanchard’s research on transgenderism as a “mental disorder” (95). Twitter exerted extreme bias against pro-life activist Lila Rose of Live Action (115ff). Big Tech used the leftist Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) to slander human rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali as anti-Muslim (126). The SPLC attacked Dr. Ben Carson as “an extremist for simply stating the traditional Christian belief that marriage is the sacramental union of a man and a woman” (128).
Hasson discusses a wide variety of topics on Big Tech’s oppression and suppression of free speech and identifies its numerous bad actors. Ninety-nine per cent of Silicon Valley employees’ political donations went to Hillary (15). Facebook manipulates “trending topics” on behalf of the racist organization Black Lives Matter (24). Big Tech supports the abortion business Planned Parenthood, which worked with anti-Semitic elements in the Women’s March (112). Hasson also explores in depth Facebook’s and Google’s huge profits and their collaboration with Communist China (173).
Although most of the book raises one’s blood pressure, at least two items are utterly laughable. A Google employee “who identifies as both ‘a yellow-scaled wingless dragonkin’ and ‘an expansive ornate building’” complained that the word “family” suggested a heterosexual couple with children (55)! Wha-what? Such an employee needs psychological help.
The second example of Big Tech’s idiocy involves Snopes and its “fact-checking” of a Babylon Bee satire: “CNN Purchases Industrial-Sized Washing Machine to Spin News before Publication” (133). What idiot would believe that this had to be “fact-checked”?
Two chapters should be required reading for all Journalism students (especially at leftist academic institutions) and for all pro-life activists: chapter five “Twitter’s Free Speech Farce” (79-107) and chapter 6 “Purging Pro-Lifers” (109-22).
Faculty and student researchers will greatly appreciate Hasson’s “Notes” (APA and MLA style references), which run 39 pages (185-224). The hard work has already been done for you.
Some lines from the book are eminently quotable and could inspire high school and college students to write some masterly essays. For example:
“Donald Trump’s election in 2016 sent a shockwave through the liberal political and media establishment” (3).
“Social media represents a real threat to the political monoculture enforced by elite institutions” (5).
“At Google, diversity doesn’t apply to diversity of thought, and inclusion doesn’t apply to orthodox Christians or social conservatives” (51).
“It’s important to keep in mind: the people offended by the word ‘family’ are the same ones whose product you trust for accurate answers when you type in ‘what is a family?’” (56).
“Most people searching for ‘abortion’ on YouTube [are] looking for information and viewpoints that CNN won’t show, which is why pro-life content outperforms pro-abortion content when the playing field is neutral” (71).
“Google is: an ideologically left-leaning company staffed by people who resent the right’s success on its massive video platform and are actively working to counter it” (77).
[Quoting an abortion wrongs activist] “People on Facebook engage with anti-abortion [sic] content more than abortion-rights [sic] content at a ‘disproportionate rate’” (114).
“The rise of populist movements around the world and Big Tech’s all-encompassing censorship regime are on a collision course” (169).
Fortunately, despite the billions of dollars that Big Tech’s dictators have, Hasson’s book is eminently encouraging. Under the “Make It Hurt” heading in the final chapter, Hasson offers this advice: “What conservatives should not do is abandon Big Tech platforms. That is simply surrendering—and conservatives do that far too often” (181; italics on "not" in original). He even offers his email to encourage people to report “cases of unfair digital censorship”: PeterJHasson@protonmail.com (181-2).
May 3, 2021
A must read for those concerned about big techs coltrol upon our lives. It was a real eye opener.
November 18, 2021
LIVRAÇO!!!!
O autor demonstra por a + b como as mídias sociais representam uma ameaça real à democracia. Com o pretexto de resguardar a liberdade de expressão e livrar a rede social de fake news, se movem descaradamente para censurar todo e qualquer discurso contrário ao mainstream da imprensa e das empresas dominantes do meio de comunicação. Há vários exemplos concretos de como isso tem se tornado possível.
O autor demonstra por a + b como as mídias sociais representam uma ameaça real à democracia. Com o pretexto de resguardar a liberdade de expressão e livrar a rede social de fake news, se movem descaradamente para censurar todo e qualquer discurso contrário ao mainstream da imprensa e das empresas dominantes do meio de comunicação. Há vários exemplos concretos de como isso tem se tornado possível.
May 22, 2022
If you disagree with someone's opinion, just call it "hate speech" and then you can get them banned from whatever social media platform they used to offend you.
Ta-da
And that's where we're headed....
Ta-da
And that's where we're headed....
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews