There would be no @AlexBerenson - now the most effective contrarian voice in my vista regarding coronavirus - if @bloomberg and @forbes and a couple of other "established" outfits had not started nibbling at the edges of the narrative. >

Although Berenson has an MSM background and credentials, they would not have hesitated to cut him off if not for the "permission" for dissent granted by major media brands that started taking chances.

Other dissenting voices were literally censored. >

There were, as you will recall, a number of remarkable takedowns by @medium just saying, "Meh, you can't publish unapproved science." But it happened on @youtube and @facebook and of course right here, and that was the end of it. >

I am not retroactively trying to defend the validity of anything that was taken down. I am not qualified; it is not in front of me; and that exercise would be entirely besides the point.

And the point is this: >

Where would we be now if no MSM brand (remember that is all they are; their analysis, information, editing and credibility are no better than that of any "rando" right now) had put its toe in the water and started to push back on the Doom Narrative? >

Why, we would be very much where we are right now.

But worse.

What will there be next time, my "build your own Internet" friends? >

We have seen how quickly people at every point along the ideological spectrum have been prepared to cash in free speech, free assembly and a bunch of other basic liberties for the promise of protection from a germ by the state's limitlessly wise protectors. >

Will those who are so insistent on the fallacy that social media platforms are shining examples of pure market capitalism - exempt from the most basic regulation found in every other area of commerce - also acknowledge that #siliconcensorship is a matter of life or death? <>