I can remember when Twitter’s “Trust and Safety Council” was established back in 2016. The list of who was on the council read like a who’s who of anti-free speech advocates, including names such as The Wahid Institute and Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency.
While the list unsurprisingly leaned heavily to the left, it was names like Sarkeesian’s that really got people’s heads scratching. She was an activist for the realm of video games, always making the case that the gaming industry and the gamers who played these games were all rabidly sexist. Her reports were usually debunked without mercy and it didn’t take long for people to figure out she was just a grifter looking to use the social justice movement to make a quick buck.
Her video series became overshadowed by her identity as an antagonist within the #GamerGate movement. When Twitter announced she’d be on the list for the “Trust and Safety Council,” many people saw it for what it was; a way for leftists to wield power against those they disagree with. There would be no legitimacy to it. Fairness was out the window. This was purely a weapon against those who refused to embrace social justice and the Democrat Party’s agenda. Period.
It also signaled that legitimacy in terms of expertise was nonexistent. All you had to do was signal a virtue loud enough and you were an expert. It’s a pattern the left would keep to and even expand upon in the coming years. People with absolutely no real background in the study of hate speech, historical patterns when it comes to hate, or even a modicum of self-awareness were put in charge of community safety. All it really took was for you to have a bone to pick with people who resisted the body politic and “boom” you were qualified as an expert.
Case in point, on Friday, RedState reported about the New York Times citing “extremism experts” at Christina Pushaw while trying to make her answer for “rhetoric” that could result in violence against trans people. As Pushaw fired back, the rhetoric they were referring to didn’t mention trans people at all.
Glenn Greenwald also highlighted this issue with the left inventing credentials to hand to activists. These credentials are fabricated out of thin air and, in truth, mean nothing. It’s just a way to attempt to legitimize censorship and unfair practices against those on the other side of the ideological spectrum.
How ridiculous can this get? We’ve already seen it. Here was one of Twitch’s community experts. This is Ferociouslysteph, a transgender deer person who bragged about the power he wielded and that she would use it to shut down those whom he deemed deserving. The backlash was so massive from these clips that Twitch would reassure everyone that the deer guy had no real power, but regardless, the damage was done and no one took their “experts” seriously.
If people like this dude can be an “expert” then guess what, you are too. You’re clearly concerned about the way things are going and have some things to say. If that’s the case, then congratulations. You too are an “expert” that can be called upon to label things as bad.
You have every qualification to be given credentials, and with those credentials comes some element of control over others. Didn’t go to school to qualify for those credentials? My friend, this is 2022. Actual expertise from years of study and real-world experience takes too long. Your willingness to act is all that matters.
Any wise person who is told this would immediately feel uncomfortable being handed that kind of credibility without having earned it, which is why I have no doubt that my loyal readers consider this all a farce. If you are one of those people, you’re right. If someone like “Ferociouslysteph” is an expert then we’re all experts, and if we’re all experts then no one is an expert.
