Escape CENSORSHIP: A Short List of Alternative Platforms
Censorship has always been on the rise. The pendulums of knowledge and power never cease their sombre dance. Yet, recent events have woken much of the populace to the precarious nature of their position, in terms of Free Expression.
So, I thought I'd throw together a quick list, to aid those who weren't quite ready when the hammer struck....
Twitter and Facebook alternatives:
Minds need little introduction, as likely you are reading this blog on that very site - unless it has been shared to you elsewhere.
Minds is a social media experience that feels like a hybrid of both Twitter and Facebook, and therefore would act as a good landing-pad if you have just been given the boot from one, or both of those platforms.
Minds has:
- Free Speech Idiom - a First Amendment standard and a jury-of-peers review system for user advocacy and judgement
- Token System - a crypto token (based on ETH, if I recall) that allows users to boost the visibility of their posts and to Tip other users for desirable content, among other uses
- Media - video, blog, and image hosting
- PermaWeb - limited access to the Arweave Permaweb allows users to give their hot-takes some degree of immutability.
- Minds+ - a burgeoning experiment in revenue-sharing that allows users (who opt in) to share delightful photographs of their pets and home-cooking
- More - that I can't remember, because it's always growing.
GAB
Gab is closer to a straight Twitter clone than Minds, but thanks to the relentless work of its developers and community, has expanded into an entire ecosystem. Compared to Minds, it has significantly more users, and those users tend to be closer to conservativism.
It bears informing though, that Gab's founder is a very conservative individual, who does not believe that Freedom of Expression extends to nudity or pornography. Gab tolerates neither of these, while Minds tolerates them behind an interstitial (NSFW filter). Therefore, in this blogger's opinion, Minds technically speaking has less censorship.
YOUTUBE Alternatives
While Minds and Gab both have video hosting, you may wish for a more youtube-like experience with video being front-and-center. There are several options for this, but I will only name three here. Others you may easily discover on your own.
ODYSEE
Odysee, formerly known as LBRY, is a peer-to-peer video hosting service. I list it at the top because, due to its architecture, it is more censorship-resistant than Bitchute or Rumble. You can read more here.
www.lbry.tv or
www.odysee.com <--- recommended
Bitchute has more users and was "first-in-best-dressed", and is a perfectly viable video host with a large user base. While it does use peer-to-peer hosting, it still uses a centralized registry, which is something of a weakness.
www.bitchute.com
Rumble is just new enough that I haven't properly researched it, and therefore don't know what's up on the matter. But don't let that stop you from trying them out to see if they're more to your taste.
www.rumble.com
STREAMING Alternatives
DLive
DLive is like Twitch.tv, except that it's on the blockchain. Though dominated by gaming streamers, it is still a good hub to watch on-the-street and independent reporters who cover, say, rioting and civil unrest. It can be found at www.dlive.tv
As you can probably tell by now, this is neither a full review nor a comprehensive list of alternate tech platforms. If for any reason, these options do not suit your needs, further research of your own will be the best curative.