When cancel culture started to become a global phenomenon rather than a fringe activity, the path ahead became clear.
Any communicator reliant on tech oligarch controlled platforms like Facebook could find themselves erased at the flick of a switch. That's why I dumped my social media accounts and set to work building the Confidential website.
If any of our service providers decide they don't like what I do, while it would create some short term difficulties nothing would be insurmountable.
We have alternatives available because we retain full control of our content and membership.
Those reliant on Facebook aren't so fortunate and have seen a lifetime of work disappear overnight.
Craig Kelly MP is one of them.
He was accused by Facebook of spreading 'misinformation' about treatments of COVID-19. For the crime of actually telling the truth about HCQ+zinc and Ivermectin he has been permanently suspended from their platform.
When asked what he presented was erroneous, no details were forthcoming from the Facebook tyrants and this has prompted Kelly to sue them for defamation. He's being supported by funding from Clive Palmer.
At least Kelly is fighting back. Not everyone has the power of an MP or a billionaire benefactor to back them.
Blogger Bill Muehlenberg has also been erased.
Again, his unspecified acts of subversion was to raise ideas about the alarmism surrounding Coronavirus, lockdowns and the potential of vaccine passports.
Over 15 years’ worth of work with hundreds of thousands of posts, comments and articles completely erased – in an instant! Nearly 5,000 contacts all stolen away from me!
These are just two of many individuals and organisations that have been de-platformed for raising legitimate questions or for sharing points of view about what is going on in our world.
What's happened to them could just as easily happen to anyone else who dares to think for themselves. It's a dangerous time for free speech and the battle of ideas.
As Muehlenberg said:
Stalin would be so very envious! Hitler would be jealous!"
Cory Bernardi is the author of seven books and has been a member of the Australian rowing team, a publican, an investment portfolio manager and spent nearly 14 years as an Australian Senator.
Australia is being let down by a government that doesn't know what to do or how to do it. The pressure of underperformance is starting to show and we are all paying the price.
The Prime Minister has a delicate balancing act ahead of him. He needs to muscle up to China while re-establishing important trade markets for our products.
