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America is tired of Silicon Valley. Be it Apple’s anti-competitive behavior, Amazon’s destruction of small and independent businesses, and the relentless censorship from the likes of Google, Facebook, and Twitter, millions of Americans are now looking for any kind of alternative to our Big Tech overlords.
For years, conservatives and libertarians have been working on projects aimed at providing these alternatives, ranging from social media networks all the way through to blockchain technologies aimed at replacing fiat currency. Here we will take a look at some of the most prominent of these developments.
Social media platforms
There are an array of social media platforms built out as free-speech alternatives to Facebook and Twitter. The first of these was is Gab, a platform with a high level of functionality yet a reputation for hosting more extremist content. Nevertheless, it boasts over four million users, while its creators have developed other products such as Dissenter, a tool that allows users to comment on any web page using a third-party forum.
There is also Parler, which was founded as a more credible and mainstream alternative to Gab. Following Donald Trump’s suspension on Twitter, the platform began to explode, although this momentum was sadly stopped in its tracks when Amazon decided to take it offline by pulling access to its servers.
More recently, former Trump adviser Jason Miller founded Gettr, a platform that also promises never to censor its users and which claims to be the fastest-growing social media company in the world.
Privacy, security and decentralized ecosystems
Clear United, a tech company founded by the Utah-based entrepreneur Michael Proper, is planning to build an entire decentralized technological ecosystem capable of rivaling Google. This ecosystem will offer many of the same products, including cellular devices, browsers, email, instant messaging, and many others, yet all with the promise of complete privacy and security.
Among the products offered by this company include the Freedom Phone, a privacy and anti-censorship device designed by 23-year-old Bitcoin millionaire Erik Finman. The device has received endorsements from the likes of Candace Owens, Dinesh D’Souza, and many other major political figures.
Meanwhile, established browsing alternatives like the search engine DuckDuckGo and the web browser Brave also offer people the opportunity to break away from Google and protect their data when surfing the web.
Video sharing
With YouTube becoming another hotbed of censorship, the alternative video-sharing platform Rumble has experienced rapid growth since July 2020, rising from 1.6 million monthly users to 31.9 million by the end of the first quarter of 2021. It has received backing from the likes of PayPal founder Peter Thiel and the prominent venture capitalist J.D. Vance.
Although the platform is mainly used by conservatives, including former President Donald Trump, it has also announced partnerships with figures across the political spectrum including former Democratic representative and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard and the left-wing libertarian journalist Glenn Greenwald.
Creators are allowed to monetize their videos, while users can win a daily cash prize earning tickets by watching videos and providing feedback. The more tickets a user has, the greater the chance of them winning the daily prize.
Fundraising
Fundraising platforms such as GoFundMe and Patreon are notorious for banning people from their platforms when they don’t like what the money is being raised for. Patreon has banned numerous conservative creators from their platform, while GoFundMe has shut down fundraising projects they disapprove of, including an effort to raise money for the recently acquitted Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse in the run-up to his trial.
The creator crowdfunding site Locals, founded by journalist Dave Rubin, has raised millions in investment since its foundation earlier this year. Notable users of the platform include the artist Scott Adams, political commentator Paul Joseph Watson, investigative journalist Andy Ngo, and comedian and Fox News host Greg Gutfeld. Last month, the company announced that it had been acquired by Rumble.
GiveSendGo, a fast-growing Christian fundraising platform has also raised significant sums for individuals such as Lieutenant William Kelly, who lost his job for donating $25 to Rittenhouse’s defense fund. Another campaign involves raising money to hire attorneys to challenge mask mandates imposed by the LaPorte School Corporation in Indiana.
Crypto
Every day it is becoming easier to embrace the benefits of blockchain technology as merchants make it easier to send and receive payments using different cryptocurrencies. Major companies and payment processors including Tesla, PayPal, CashApp, Venmo, and Microsoft have all started accepting payments in various currencies, while the continually bullish outlook on the price of crypto assets all points to a bright future for crypto.
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Many great minds and innovators have already built out the technology that will provide us all with digital freedom; the onus is now on us to support them and help build a world centered around digital freedom.
Ben Kew is English Editor of El American. He studied politics and modern languages at the University of Bristol where he developed a passion for the Americas and anti-communist movements. He previously worked as a national security correspondent for Breitbart News. He has also written for The Spectator, Spiked, PanAm Post, and The Independent
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Ben Kew es editor en inglés de El American. Estudió política y lenguas modernas en la Universidad de Bristol, donde desarrolló una pasión por las Américas y los movimientos anticomunistas. Anteriormente trabajó como corresponsal de seguridad nacional para Breitbart News. También ha escrito para The Spectator, Spiked, PanAm Post y The Independent.
The Freedom Phone is just a standard Android phone running the open source version of Android, called AOSP. Because it’s open source, Google doesn’t include any of it’s proprietary software in the build, which is what we want. While I applaud Freedom Phone for making this available, the price of the Freedom Phone is totally ridiculous. AOSP is free and anybody who knows how to root Android and flash the operating system can do it. They are using a cheap phone and then putting free open source software on it. It’s not worth $400-500. There’s other ways to get a “de-Googled” phone. Just search for it.
I’ve never seen anything that could be considered ‘extremist’ on GAB. If they find anything illegal, or threatening on GAB, they take it down, just like any platform should. If you see anything extremist there I’m willing to check out what you’ve found. Another site that caters to Christians, though not limited to them is USA.life. Then, there are a plethora of Free-Speech video sites. Rather than list them, you can find many listed @ DuckHK’s Rumble account. He’s found all those platforms for you, because he hosts videos on all of them.
Oh, I see where GAB got the reputation for being extremist. The link in your article brought me straight to a story by CNN. CNN is in the business of smearing reputations. You don’t take anything they say at face value, I hope.
So what stocks should we be investing in that are behind these companies???
In addition to GAB you really should include MeWe which in my mind is superior, and the Christian social Xapit, and Frank, which is a stable streaming site I believe Mike Lindell will continue to grow out. Other than another crowd-funding site that escapes me at the moment, a good treatment of the anti-Zuckerbucks ecosystem that is growing and expanding daily as big-tech is in the process of being flushed down the digital drain!
Love it..!!! The only thing is how many of these newcomers for freedom will be bought by Big Tech in the future.???