Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for March 18, 2021

Only if you choose to worship it.

More like an occult.

At this point they’re more like a country.

Facebook provides a service.

The government . . . oh, never mind.

(Holding some garlic and a bottle of holy water) “Stay back, Facebook! I condemn thee to the Pit!”

Facebook is loosing time, I’d say.

they think they are

Only in Zuck’s mind.

They spend millions on lobbyists so they sort of are our government.

They’re more like a vampire, seems to me.

Every breath you take,

Every move you make,

Every bond you break,

Every step you take,

Zuck is watching you…

Every single day,

Every word you say,

Every game you play,

Every night you stay,

Zuck is watching you…

Big Brother terrorized people and forced himself on them. Big Zuck et al. has seduced people into being taken advantage of. Better? Maybe?

Facebook, honestly in my opinion is what adults use, whereas Instagram more teens use

Zuckerberg’s platform….Zuckerberg’s rules, you could say. :/

They think so…

LIKE.

It’s bizarre when someone says someone violated their freedom of speech, because their post is removed because they called someone the “c—-t” word or something like that. Weirdos.

Yep, nice little loophole. They’re not a commons, so they can censor. But they’re not a publisher either, so they can’t be sued for content. And now they dominate public discourse. How to crush the First Amendment without violating it.

FB jail is almost a badge of courage. You can land their for silly reasons.

Oh God, no, Rat!

I agree with you, Bilan. What’s the point in even starting?

Rat makes a compelling argument.

bookface sucks………

True story. Someone on Reddit was bummed out that Twitter could deny people service. I told him he was a Pinko who wanted government controlling private companies.

Well, when you join, you do click the “I agree” box that tells them it’s okay, among other things, to delete your posts or your account if they want to. You can’t really complain that they did something you gave them explicit permission to do.

I bought Facebook stock at their IPO of $40; so yes, its like a deity.

Facebook is a false God.

Naah. Facecrooks only gather your data so that they can make huge profits by selling em to a lotsa others.

The 1st Amendment is the law expressing the societal value of free speech as it applies to the government. Facebook may violating the principle of free speech by moderating for viewpoint as they hold themselves to be an open forum.

Facebook and the government? What’s the difference?

The government abides, like teeth

Facebook thinks so, but then twitter thinks they’re a deity, too.

Get out of my face!

It is a monopoly so it is a violation of your rights.

Privately owned can do that I guess. FB is a waste of time!

Some common ground here, though. Conservatives: This is one more reason why companies should not be allowed to get too large, and why you need a healthy public sector.

If everything is privatized, freedom of speech – in fact, the entire 1st Amendment – ceases to exist.

Sad but true.

Goat makes an interesting point. If a Christian (or a member of any other religion) prays in a public place, he is not violating anybody’s first amendment rights, but if somebody sues him for it, and the court finds in the plaintiff’s favor, then the court is violating the Christian’s first amendment rights, because it is a branch of the government.

FB and deities are things I do not have in my life.

This is a point that the Trump-loving trolls fail to grasp.

Anybody remember The President’s Analyst? Maybe it’s for a remake.

Just say NO

Nailed it!

Facebook is kind of the snake in the paradise that is the internet...Yes, yes, that was a JOKE!…Sheesh…

Don’t let Facebook or any other social media be the government. The actual government isn’t even good at its job.

I went to Facebook once, took a look around, and left. Nothing there for me worth giving them my all.

They’ve been given, or allowed, the power of a government. They are immune from laws that private citizens are liable to.

St. Donald thought it was the one true religion, and he was a devote practitioner until he was excommunicated.

In power over your lives, yes……

But try to get a “right” whinger to comprehend that.

Yes, if your deity is Erra, an Akkadian plague god of the eighth century BCE, the god of mayhem and pestilence who is responsible for periods of political confusion.

Yes, an evil deity.

But we’re friends.

No Rat, they’re just a business with the Freedom to set their own Rules of Engagement just like any other one. You know, like “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service”.

If you don’t like their rules you can take you’re free to take your business somewhere else.

The right hates Facebook and Twitter because they consider it censorship to flag lies and ban liars. The left hates them because they don’t do it enough. Regardless of what you think of the value of social media, you must admit the companies have to walk a very fine line.

Facebook is a commercial enterprise. Surprisingly often, a Deity also turns out to be one .

To some people, yeah, they are a deity. Why I will never understand.

HA HA HA! I don’t know why this is so funny but it is!

Listen to the GOAT conservative talk show hosts.

No, but people like you foolishly think so, Rat.

Yes, but social media platforms like Facebook are operating, supposedly, for benefit of the public — all the public. In fact, they could be regulated as utilities and their suppression of free speech ended. Imagine if your electric utility could cut you off because they don’t like your politics.

Facebook is known for deleting messages and group without informing you and without giving a reason.

It’s the internet. Either anything goes or you get moderated.

Yep…Satan

Not a government (yet). Certainly not a deity (maybe a demon). But too darn big for their britches. Zuck needs to be down-sized, maybe through anti-trust legislation….

180 comments; I wonder if Pastis lights these fuses unwittingly or by design!?

Prodigy and Compuserve did the same in their day; they wiped out dissent. The Internet was supposed to change that, and did wipe out those two. It looks like we forgot our history, so we are condemned to repeat it.

Well, that’s certainly one possibility….

perfiction

Does it make it better when corporations are doing it in coordination with the government? Pastis has a simplistic view of the world

Facebutt is more like a plague.

And yet you can not post the lollipop song on Comics Kingdom. Something about the second part

A private company acting at the behest of a political ideology and or party… I think there’s a word for that.

If it’s creating a ‘clear and present danger’ it’s not protected speech.

They like to think so.

Facebook isn’t orange….

Like “The Google” ??

So, since landline and mobile phone companies are privately owned, you wouldn’t mind them monitoring and restricting your phone calls?

Which Is Worse? FaceBook Or The Government?

A self-serving service at that, Facebook provides.