The Tyranny of Woke Capital
Gregory Hood, American Renaissance, October 1, 2020
Antifa, multicultural groups, and the Southern Poverty Law Center don’t worry me. Woke Capital does. It funds left-wing activists and cuts off nationalists, conservatives, and Christians from basic services. While the government may occasionally push companies in certain directions, Amazon, Chase, Twitter, and other companies censor and punish those with opposing views.
Many of us can’t have Twitter accounts, but this guy gets a blue check mark.
Me-first capitalists who think you can separate society from business are going to be the first people lined up against the wall and shot in the revolution. I’ll happily provide video commentary.
— dick costolo (@dickc) October 1, 2020
Dick Costolo was Twitter’s CEO between 2010 and 2015. Current CEO Jack Dorsey just donated $10 million to Ibram Kendi.
What prompted Mr. Costolo’s wrath? Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong wrote a blog called “Coinbase is a mission focused company.” He argued that his company should avoid social activism: “The reason is that while I think these efforts are well intentioned, they have the potential to destroy a lot of value at most companies, both by being a distraction, and by creating internal division.” [Bold in original.] He offered severance pay to anyone who wanted to leave. Here is how some people reacted:
NEW: @Coinbase announces new commitment to a white supremacist workplace. https://t.co/t0GHK4nji4
— Nandini Jammi (@nandoodles) September 28, 2020
Nandini Jammi runs Sleeping Giants and founded Check My Ads. Both work to eliminate “hate speech and fake news” online.
Apparently @coinbase is now focusing on their core mission of facilitating institutional racism. pic.twitter.com/jzPQYzaCDu
— Matt Odell (@matt_odell) September 30, 2020
I bet you money that Coinbase will have this convo at some point:
Person A: <umpteenth racist joke>
Person B: again, that’s racist
Person A, HR, the company: we’re mission focused, please keep politics out of this
Person A: <sexist joke> https://t.co/DpHTe57JbT— David Zhou (@dz) September 28, 2020
David Zhou’s profile says he is engineering manager at Mailchimp. Mailchimp cut off American Renaissance after the Unite The Rally in 2017, even though AR had nothing to do with it.
Jack Dorsey wrote:
#Bitcoin (aka “crypto”) is direct activism against an unverifiable and exclusionary financial system which negatively affects so much of our society. Important to at *least* acknowledge and connect the related societal issues your customers face daily. This leaves people behind: https://t.co/0LMlF1qcmG
— jack (@jack) September 30, 2020
Of course, Coinbase is not apolitical.
- In April 2018, it reportedly banned Wikileaks
- In January 2019, it reportedly banned Gab’s business account and founder Andrew Torba’s personal account.
- In May 2019, it banned Milo Yiannopoulos’s personal account.
- And, of course, Coinbase has banned us.
Major outlets are writing about Coinbase:
- Taking a Stand Against Social Stances, New York Times, September 30, 2020
- Why Coinbase will struggle to ban politics from the workplace, The Verge, September 30, 2020
- Can Coinbase ward off employee activism with its new hardline policy?, Quartz, September 30, 2020
The title of the last article is revealing. Not taking political issues is “hardline.” Can Coinbase hold out? I doubt it.
Activists and media are also attacking Facebook for not doing enough to restrict speech. Needless to say, Facebook has already banned American Renaissance and many other groups, but that’s not enough.
- Selena Gomez Demands Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg Shut Down ‘Hate Speech’ Groups, Elle, September 19, 2020
- Facebook ‘profits from hate’ claims engineer who quit, BBC, September 9, 2020
- Stop Hate for Profit social media boycott to focus its pressure on Facebook, Axios, September 22, 2020
Politico recently published an article claiming right-wing groups have a “massive advantage” on Facebook. Many leftists agree. More than 1,000 companies recently suspended advertising on Facebook because of demands from the ADL, the NAACP, and other leftist groups. Until the election, a coalition of “civil rights” groups will host a weekly conference to discuss “the most urgent issues including voter suppression, election security and misinformation.”
Of course, Facebook is already manipulating information. It’s even censoring President Trump’s campaign. In June, it banned one of its ads for violating an “organized hate” policy. Yesterday, Facebook removed a Trump ad that connected refugees to the coronavirus, saying, “We don’t allow claims that people’s safety, health, or survival is threatened by people on the basis of their national origin or immigration status.”
Facebook already scans even private groups to see if they violate “community standards.” Spreading “misinformation” is grounds for removal. Activists also want any event listing banned if it calls for people to bring guns, even if they are to be carried legally.
Who else is under fire? The ADL doesn’t like QAnon, Three Percenters, and Neo-Confederates. Color of Change complained about an Ann Coulter column that defended Kyle Rittenhouse. Facebook removed it.
It’s hard to tell what line can’t be crossed. This could be by design; it gives Facebook more power and allows double standards.
If President Trump’s ads, Ann Coulter’s columns, and harmless QAnon pages must be censored, who decides what is “misinformation” and what isn’t? Left-wing activists do, and they can even censor the president of the United States in an election year.
If this is our system, we could save a lot of trouble by skipping polls, debates, and elections. Just hand over power to activist groups. It will clarify things. The most harmful “misinformation” I can think of is the the idea that we still live in a free country.