Introduction

YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are the biggest media platforms in the market. However, they are rather questionable in their ethics from collecting and selling private information to censorship. Heck, the YouTube CEO was given a free speech award in a sheer twist of irony (and the award was sponsored by YouTube!).

Look at the upper right corner during the first few seconds.

Enter the several alternative media platforms that allege to be more open, ethical, and transparent. We have Bitchute, Rumble, and LBRY/Odysee to name a few YouTube alternatives. Gab and Parler are advertised as the "free speech" versions of Twitter. If you want something more decentralized, there is the aforementioned LBRY along with Ruqqus, PeakD, and Minds.

Just recently, My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell launched his new social media platform, Frank Speech... Or rather, he tried to. The site has faced a bunch of technical difficulties due to an alleged attack. If you go to the site now, you just have an embedded video of Lindell's livestream.

This is what it looks like on my side.

If the site was legitimately attacked, then that's messed up for the people who did it. Lindell does have his fair share of detractors like David Hogg who tried to start a competitor against My Pillow (and abjectly failed). That said, there is one rule on his Frank Speech platform that I feel will prevent it from gaining much traction.

Is it Really a Free Speech Platform?

While the actual Frank Speech site is down, I was able to find this when I searched for it on Presearch:

Lindell advertises his platform as the "home of Free Speech". Though just a few days ago, he announced some words that users will not be allowed to use:

During a recent interview with NDT News, the Christian patriot, Mike Lindell revealed that in addition to calls for criminal acts, the four “swear words” that you won’t see on his new social media platform: “You don’t get to use the four swear words—the C-word, the N-word, the F-word, or God’s name in vain. Free speech is not pornography; free speech isn’t ‘I’m going to kill you,’” Lindell said.

Yeah, I don't really buy his arguments here even though I understand his desire to establish a civil environment. Limiting one's ability to express himself or herself is, by definition, limiting free speech. A common argument I hear in favor for Lindell's rule is that only the words are censored, but not the ideas and arguments. While that is true, it still does not change the fact that it suppresses expression.

From a more personal standpoint, one of my favorite comedians is George Carlin. If you ever listen to his shows, he swore a lot. Could he have made the same points across without profanities? Sure, but it is because of those profanities that made George Carlin George Carlin and they provided a lot of comedic value. Even here on Publish0x, some of the content I enjoyed reading the most contain swearing, like Alucard's articles. I don't think they would've packed the same punch had he not used profanities.

In response to Lindell's more extreme scenarios, I mean... duh. Porn is unsuitable for younger, immature audiences (though technically, it still falls under free speech). Saying "I'm going to kill you" is a criminal offense. However, I fail to see how these extreme examples support Lindell's ban on swear words. In addition, in regards to pornography, many platforms use NSFW filters or offer users the option to enable/disable the display of NSFW content.

Minds offers users the option to display NSFW content. I turned it on to test it out and the amount of NSFW content my newsfeed receives is almost non-existent.

Closing Thoughts

So, is Frank Speech a free speech platform? Well, to quote a very apt statement from Minds:

[Lindell] basically started a free speech site because the left decided free speech only included things they agree with. So he decides free speech only applies to the things HE agrees with.

Lindell is absolutely free to prohibit swearing and using God's name in vain. Personally, I don't really have a problem with that (except for using God's name in vain. That gives me blasphemy law vibes.). If he wants to establish a more civil environment, more power to him. What I do have a problem with, however, is that he establishes these rules and advertises Frank speech as "free speech" platform. It is not.

I bid him and his platform luck. Will I open an account and join his site? Nah, fuck that. I'm going to stick with Minds, Odysee, and Publish0x. Oh, and for the love of God, Lindell, launch a beta test first. I think that would've saved you a lot of headaches.