This morning, I saw this share by Political Cartoonist Mike Luckovich:

That I am dissapointed about this goes without saying. Mr. Luckovich is possibly one of the finest political cartoonists of my generation. While I don't always agree with everything he posts, he always makes me think. I value that more than Mike will ever know.

I am however completely unsurprised that X banned his post.

So... A Quick Civics Reminder:

The 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution only restricts Congress from impeding free speech. It does not restrict private entities or corporations from doing so.

X is not your friend. Neither is Meta, BlueSky, or TikTok. All of them are driven by motives; commercial, and in some cases, political.

Asking them to change what they are is likely to be a lesson in futility.

And while we are on this subject, people should understand that while the Fediverse as a whole is pretty neutral, Individually owned and hosted Fediverse servers may not be. Nothing wrong with that, the strength of the medium is that practically anyone can set up a Mastodon, Pixelfed, Friendica, or other server that reflects their world-views. But it is always a good idea to know where you are choosing to land your accounts and what that community stands for. Whether you like it or not, you are a reflection of the choices you make.

Sadly we are moving into a world where freedom of expression is going to become an increasingly difficult thing to have, and attempts to restrict the flow of contrary or uncomfortable views are going to come from countries, goverments, and institutions that were previously seen as lights shining in the darkness. During these times, knowledge and an open mind will be the most powerful tools you can have.

“Mighty little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything—you can’t conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him.”

Robert Heinlein – Revolt in 2100.