WASHINGTON – With traditional network and cable network news, not to mention hard left social media, search, video and hosting sites uniting to obliterate opposing points of view, those with conservative to libertarian viewpoints urgently need to establish their presence elsewhere or risk annihilation. Hundreds of deplatformed, ousted content creators who disagree with today’s left-wing, state-owned, anti-free speech media empire now have an alternative. Many “canceled” conservative and libertarian content creators are finding a new home in independent social networking and video sites like Bitchute, Gab, Minds and many more.
What’s in today’s list of conservative / libertarian friendly social networking and video sites
In any event, what follows is a list of current Twitter, Facebook and YouTube lookalikes that either are or promise to be either conservative / libertarian friendly or at least way less censorious than the utterly left-wing biased dominant services. My current list is subjective and contains only sites I’m reasonably familiar with.
If you value freedom of speech and expression, you should consider joining and / or supporting one or more of these alternative sites. The way things are going in Washington this year, they could soon prove to be your only alternative for reasonably reliable news, information, and original content that doesn’t “offend” your own value system.
The list
BitChute (UK-based): Where alternative video content creators are going
Bitchute has become a popular YouTube video alternative among conservatives and libertarian creators. That’s clearly one of this site’s key aims. The BitChute policy section states that the site “aims to put creators first and provide them with a service that they can use to flourish and express their ideas freely.”
More:
“All members of the community and wider society should be treated as equals with the same rights, regardless of their race, age, sex, religion, political beliefs, or any other immutable attribute or self-assigned designation.
“We expect members of the BitChute community to act maturely and in a decent manner that is respectful to other members of the community and wider society.”
Thanks, Bitchute. What a concept. Too bad YouTube doesn’t work that way any more.
BitChute lives in the UK, which is good or bad depending on your point of view. But one thing’s for sure: BitChute is definitely NOT owned and operated by the fully faux-Marxist BBC. You can check out BitChute policies and sample Bitchute content by clicking the link in the headline. For exiled content creators, Bitchute is definitely worth a look. Ditto for conservatives and libertarians hungry for something else besides fake news.
Dailymotion.com (France-based)
Here’s another YouTube-like site. Founded in 2005, Dailymotion describes itself as “a global video streaming service that connects over 250 million entertainment-seekers to their personal world of news and entertainment. Built on a clever player, intuitive algorithm[s], and on carefully-selected recommendations made by our experts who really love great videos, Dailymotion is the one-stop place for enjoying stories from the best creators around in one heightened video experience.
Who owns and operates this French site? (Which posts US-English content)
“Dailymotion is owned by Vivendi and headquartered in Paris with offices in New York, Singapore and Marseille.”
Some users have complained that Dailymotion doesn’t pay much attention to adding bells and whistles or otherwise updating the look and feel of its site. But, as a non-video creator myself, I’m in no position to judge this aspect of Dailymotion.
Gab: Social networking for the rest of us
The Facebook-like site Gab is an unfortunately much put-upon social network. It “champions free speech, individual liberty and the free flow of information online… [and]… All are welcome.” Obviously, lefties hate Gab with a passion. But for Gab, that’s a feature, not a bug.
Gab’s content-rich, user friendly site is loaded with content. It carries videos and commentary from a wide variety of content creators and users. The site is friendly to conservatives and libertarians. But it doesn’t oust other points of view unless they violate the boundaries of good taste or resort to name-calling or verbal or video abuse of opponents.
Gab has been constantly reviled over its fairly long existence for the fact that the site’s owner is openly Christian. That in itself makes anyone a target for the most vicious attacks in today’s USA. Gab has also been ousted by Paypal (sadly a common politically instigated occurrence these days for many sites). Gab is also the target of an ongoing, vicious attempt to have various banks either terminate the site’s accounts or refuse to allow new accounts from the site. It’s the same likely criminal action America’s Marxist party has already pulled on gun manufacturers and sellers.
But in the real world, Gab may still be one of the most fair-minded gathering places on the Internet today. And Gab is certainly a far friendlier place to conservatives and libertarians than the vile cesspool of hate that Twitter has become.
MeWe
I’ve only begun to explore MeWe. But it’s a Facebook-like site (no insult intended!) that endeavors to be both open and civilized. Here’s a snippet from the site’s “About” page.
“MeWe began in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as a vision hatched over a dinner between good friends who were early founders of social media. With Facebook all the rage, they felt something critically human was getting lost: the spirit of our democracy and the backbone of our privacy. The big technology companies, you know who they are, had reverted to treating us as commodities. They somehow mistook people signing up to use their services as a welcome invitation to target, track, spy, and sell our information to advertisers and the government. All in all, it felt pretty creepy.
“MeWe founder, Mark Weinstein, dreamed of the next generation in online communications, envisioning a social and chat app that would give people everywhere the most exciting and helpful sharing technology with privacy built into the design – where members would feel safe and respected.”
Unsurprisingly, there’s no advertising here, nor anything else inside or outside the app to track your information. That’s a big plus. They do encourage you to join their “premium” service, as do any number of other independent social networking and video sites. The reason they do this is precisely because of the advertising / information tracking issue. But that’s your option. On the other hand, if you like this or other sites on this list, some form of support is often most appreciated.
Minds.com
This site combines elements of Facebook and Twitter. But Minds does so with a welcome twist for new writers, content providers and video providers. The founders of Minds set the site up so you can actually earn money via your posted content under certain conditions. Or, according to Minds:
“You can … receive direct payments in USD, Bitcoin and Ether from your fans or upgrade your account to launch your own website and get paid for the traffic you drive.”
Now there’s a deal.
Here’s some tech and content info also provided by Minds:
1. Our code and algorithms are free and open source for maximum transparency and accountability. 2. Our content policy is based on the First Amendment and governed by a community jury in order to minimize bias and censorship. 3. You can only change someone’s mind if you provide him or her with a platform to speak it.
For more details, check out Minds via the link above. It’s nice, clean and straightforward. Minds is also one of Tim Pool’s alternative homes.
I haven’t really participated much in Minds yet, but I plan to do so soon.
Parler
Most internet fans know that Amazon’s vast hosting service arbitrarily nuked this Twitter-like site a couple of months ago. Caught totally unawares, management had to scramble to get the site back up. In the process, they needed a new host and had some difficulty finding one that wouldn’t nuke them again. They’ve done so, but I still find that logging in can be a bit more than a chore. Last week, at least for me, it didn’t work at all.
The site managed to salvage users, links, and, it seems, some “parleys.” It seems more stable this week. But only time will tell if it can regain the popularity it achieved before Amazon terminated it. Even if Parler survives, I wonder how this and other sites might fare in a month or two. That’s when President Trump and his team plan to debut their announced mystery site.
Another potential mystery… Since Dan Bongino will soon take over Rush Limbaugh’s sacred weekday afternoon slot on many local EIB stations. So his support for Parler could wane under the pressure of succeeding the former talk show legend. Just speculating. Parler is still struggling.
Rumble.com
Rumble is another increasingly popular YouTube alternative, boasting a slick and easy-to-use interface. The Dan Bongino show among others runs here. So to those ever-popular straight talkers Diamond and Silk. Their latest video (on ex-President-in-Waiting Joe Biden) will curl the ears of the squeamish.
Regarding Bongino, as noted above, things might change once Dan moves into Rush Limbaugh’s old radio afternoon slot. But maybe he’ll continue to post his show here.
Says Rumble:
“[O]ur flagship brand provides video creators a way host, manage, distribute, create OTT feeds and monetize their content. One of the things Rumble does best, is providing audiences that will generate revenue for video creators.”
Finale:
Again, this list remains incomplete. That’s because I have yet to interact with some video and social networking services that fit the conservative-friendly bill. I’ll review them when I get the chance to see how they function.
But today’s list, from Bitchute to Rumble, is a good place to start. That’s especially true for conservatives and libertarians looking for viable online alternatives. Relocating to one or more of the above sites can begin to address this totalitarian impulse. And breathe new life into the growing movement to save the US of A.
