QUELLING THE VOICES OF DISSENT

The recent quelling of Republican groups from the social media platform Facebook is a disgraceful silencing of political voices.
Republicans are well used to censorship, this coordinated action against republican social media pages is not something that should be taken lightly. You don’t have to agree with the political outlook of such organisations to see that the de-platforming of them sets a very dangerous precedence.

Those who champion Western Democracy claim that a central tenet of that is being able to challenge those in power, which includes being able to voice discontent.

For a global corporation to silence political dissent at the behest of state actors flies in the face of democracy.
The internet once seen as a bastion of free speech and a great leveller of voices, is being corralled once again into the hands of the elite.

Social Media has become the most prevalent means of communication, it offers the illusion of free speech and connection. In reality large corporations have a strangle hold on how we communicate and how we think.
If large corporations are allowed to cut off the voices of whoever they see fit at the whim of the establishment we will never see power held to account or achieve political change.

The treatment of various Republican groupings who have been censored cannot go unchallenged by anyone who claims to adhere to the democratic process or seeks radical political change in Ireland. There is no telling where the powers that be will focus their attention next if this goes unchallenged.