Facebook Faces Greed, Not Censorship

- jim Young 

"Adam was but human. This explains it all. He did not want the apple for the apple's sake, he wanted it only because it was forbidden. The mistake was in not forbidding the serpent; then he would have eaten the serpent." - Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson

A facebook friend of mine recently posed this question on Facebook.

I don't know if the notice was actually sent by Facebook or not and I'm not going to take the time to research it.

What is interesting is that it quickly evoked a couple of replies suggesting this action was a result of the Canadian Government's passing of Bill C-11.

"Censorship at work."

That wasn't my interpretation of Bill C-11 at all. From what I understand, Bill C-11 is not about censorship, but more about royalties and fair pay for fair play that will bring the internet more in line with over-the-air broadcasting regulations.

Facebook is suggesting they "can't share the news". That's not entirely true. In fact Facebook can share the news if they are willing to pay for it. In my mind, falsely crying "censorship" over this suggests to me that Facebook is not even responsible enough to enjoy the privilege of broadcasting the news. However, there are no bills or laws that can prevent their right to do  so, as long as they are willing to pay their fair share.

We are so used to the news being free, we sometimes forget that it costs a lot of money for the media to send out its reporters and photographers to gather these news stories. Some of these reporters put themselves at great risk and some even die for it. Some of those reporters work very hard and endure great sacrifices to expose the truth while others are lazy, exploitive and just trying to make a quick, easy buck.

Either way, somebody has to pay for that. And regardless of what you may think of the main-stream media, those paying for that service are entitled to a fair return on their money.

Social media platforms such as Facebook have been getting a free ride all this time and exploiting the media to line their own pockets. What's really said is their greed has grown to the point where, instead of accepting the extra they've been receiving all these years as a bonus, the social platforms are now crying foul and trying to make you believe they are the victims here by suggesting your rights are being infringed. They don't want you to notice how greedy they really are.

It's kind of line a pet owner complaining his dog is not going to starve because, after stealing dog food for years, he's been caught and is being told he now has to pay for his own dog's food.

The news is not being censored. It is freely available in a wide variety of media. If Facebook chooses not to broadcast the news on their medium, rather than pay the costs of doing so, that's their right and their choice. But it's not censorship. It's a business decision they will arrive at when weighing the costs vs the revenue they might receive by broadcasting the news.

The Great North Arrow has recently made the decision to stay away from reporting hard news stories yet no one has accused them of censoring the news. It was a business decision plain and simple.

What I find particularly amusing in all this, is most of the people I know who have criticized Bill C-11 in the first place, are also the first to criticize the media in general.

"Fake News!" is the cry of the day applied to everything and anything that someone doesn't agree with, regardless of whether or not there is any validity to the story. The media is "biased" and "too opinionated. It's corrupt and just trying to make a buck."

"You can't believe ANYTHING the main-stream media reports."

Why then, is the disappearance of news broadcasts from "social" media so unsettling? It seems to me like Facebook is playing these people on both ends.

Maybe it's time for social media like Facebook to get back to their roots and just be "social entertainment".

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