Is There Really Such Thing as Freedom Of Speech For Your Business?
Kanye West, Alex Jones, JK Rowling…
Freedom of speech or expression is one of the most trending topics on social media today. Is freedom of speech something of the past, or are there ways to maintain your privacy and independence without losing your business?
Governments and their Big Tech watchdogs believe companies and individuals will toe the line if they want to stay relevant. You agree… because… what other choice do you have?
- Your business needs to grow its customer base.
- You need to generate leads.
- You can’t afford to lose your social media channels, much less your website.
WRONG!
While freedom of speech will never exist absolutely, as long as you aren't doing anything illegal, exploiting kids, or promoting terrorists, you can get your message out there while avoiding tech cancel culture.
Does Freedom of Speech really exist?
Freedom of Speech or Freedom of Expression allows people or companies to state their opinions regarding various issues without any censorship and obstruction from an authority figure.
On paper, it is supposed to be a fundamental human right.
In reality, time and again, we hear the news of an arrest of someone for their critical opinions of a government and its officials. Or, we hear about fines and restrictions imposed upon seeking, receiving, and relaying ideas and information.
What is Internet Censorship?
Internet censorship controls information that the public can view on the Internet and is carried out by governments, institutions, and even private organizations. Censored content can include copyrighted information, harmful or sensitive content, or, these days, anything that doesn’t agree with the official narrative. It can be either in the form of blocking website content or monitoring internet use and access. People and organizations can self-censor for moral or business reasons, to meet societal norms, or in fear of legal consequences.
In the present world, internet censorship remains the major threat to freedom of expression. Governments worldwide engage in internet censorship for various reasons; some are more well-intentioned than others. There are use cases for protecting children from accessing sensitive information. Then there are authoritative attempts to gate a group of people’s access to important information to control the narrative. This approach can have far-reaching consequences for local businesses.
While we typically think of Internet censorship as being controlled by governments, it’s commonly used by other organizations like your Internet service providers to limit your access to certain sites.
Impact of Algorithms and Artificial Intelligence on Censorship
In digital marketing, “algorithm” is a term that is being tossed around daily regardless of whether someone understands what it means. Each platform has one (or multiple), and your marketers have to try and satisfy them – or stand the chance of your content (or company) being canceled.
Most digital platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, have adopted the art of artificial intelligence, otherwise known as AI, in implementing censorship. The main goal behind AI is to assist machines in registering language more like human beings.
Facebook came up with Artificial Intelligence Researchers (FAIR ) that can interpret the use of different slang and determine the actual meaning of a word with different meanings as phrased in content. It is also developing a feature that can understand a picture and recognize the individual objects in the picture and their connection.
YouTube
Artificial Intelligence on YouTube has helped take down about 83% of the deleted videos from this platform. This technology can spot inappropriate content and directly act without human interposition. It also aims at removing content with little or no views to protect its audience from offensive videos.
Being one of the most used social platforms, Twitter uses AI technology to scrap out content that may sound racist, may contain hate speech, and have fake and offensive content.
It’s not just a social media problem, but also your browser that can cancel your website, online advertising, and blogs. And your business is fighting a censorship problem and an SEO ranking bias. In the instance of Google, there are not only multiple algorithms at play but also AI and machine learning.
How do you battle the machine(s)?
So, is freedom of speech something of the past, or are there ways to maintain your privacy and independence without losing your business?
1. The World Wide Web isn’t the same across the wide world
Well, technically, it’s the same network, but Internet censorship limits what people around the globe can access. This is a very important point because…
Not all countries are equal when it comes to internet censorship! Government involvement in Internet censorship varies from country to country. Internet censorship differs worldwide, from little to no oversight to pervasive control and surveillance.
2. Build a bulletproof OFFSHORE infrastructure
So, how can you use this information to benefit your business? Andrew Henderson, CEO of Nomad Capitalist, shines a light on planting your digital flag, including offshore hosting and domain names.
Flag Theory
If you maintain an online presence or run an online business, you should use Flag Theory to ensure you are well diversified. Common examples like internationalizing your email and your website are important.
Domain name
Owning a “.com,” “.net,” “.org,” “.co”, .or “.us” domain means that your domain name is subject to US laws, no matter where you are based. The US government has said that no such domain name is safe from government confiscation, which is why less standard domain extensions like “.co.uk”, “.de,” or “.com. au” may suit your website better.
Offshore hosting
Where you host your website is also important. Offshore web hosting services are far superior to those based in the United States, where hosting companies will often shut down your website for the slightest of infractions involving the DMCA or anything else.
The country your website is based in also determines which freedom of speech laws you are subject to.
Americans may not know that the United States is behind countries like Suriname and Jamaica regarding freedom of the press, so don’t rest too easy thinking your government won’t ever come after you. On top of that, an outdated, yet still upheld, US court decision from the 1990s states that the location of your server is the basis of where you are taxed.
That means an offshore business can fall under US tax law — even if the owner is a qualified ex-pat — if you have a US web hosting company rather than having a server offshore.
In some countries where the authorities have taken control over the Domain Name System (DNS), one can instruct their devices to use DNS servers that have not been compromised. This will give you the freedom to put your content out without the risk of being put down by the authorities.
Use a VPN
Censorship can prevent access to certain websites by checking the information contained in the Uniform Resource Locator (URL). To avoid this, you can use a Virtual Private Network (VPN), which detours URL sifting and blocks IP addresses. VPNs are used to connect to work networks and are normally not blocked. A fast and solid VPN will, however, cost you more money.
Use a Tor browser
Using the Tor browser will enable you to browse anonymously by routing one’s web browsing over an encrypted network before hitting a terminus. It enables you to access blocked sites as well.
Another means of accessing blocked sites is using a standard proxy. Proxies function is similar to Virtual Private Networks, VPN, but they may not be as reliable since they can be blocked.
3. Finally, get the right business solutions partner to:
- Help you plant your Digital Flag
- Build your cancel-proof platform
- Build a cancel-proof marketing funnel and summit virtual space
- Create an automatic marketing machine that keeps assets safe
- Run powerful events that produce leads, sales, and impact
- Get a perpetual flow of leads and sales without wasting time on day-to-day fulfillment and promotion.
It’s virtually the only way to avoid becoming a victim of the American and Canadian cancel culture!
If you would like a full breakdown of the EXACT system we use to help influencers and experts make a bigger impact without worrying about being canceled, we have an upcoming summit that will go into all the details; just click on the link for more details.
And subscribe to our channel for more ways to make your business cancel-proof, create a bigger impact, and stop wasting time on day-to-day soul-crushing activities.
