You don’t have to be a conservative comic to feel The Rage of Big Tech.
Comedian Tyler Fischer did not publicly describe or claim. He’s a liberal thinker who transcends Biden to Trump impressions on stage.
He still feels the wrath of Big Tech through his hilarious impressions of Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Ryan Long, whose non-politically positive comic style, has also feel that censorship bite.
Comedian Sam Morril just joined the canceled club.
Morril, who may lean to the Left but has a balanced presentation on stage, is a rising star in comedy circles. He did his first Netflix special, “Same Time Tomorrow,” last year and is selling out club tickets on his current “Class Act” tour.
He even won a coveted interview on “Joe Rogan Experience” in 2022.
Undoubtedly, he’s R-rated and while diving into culture war issues, he doesn’t pledge allegiance to any side of the aisle. He quickly pokes fun at the awakened Left, and in the next breath, embraces a progressive story.
Morril just received a lesson about how some jokes are no longer accepted on major platforms. He shared a sizzling message on Twitter, owned by free speech-friendly Elon Musk, about a humbling piece of comedy that was snapped back by the Instagram team.
He’s not happy, and neither should he be.
You spend all your time building a following on these apps and they keep moving in. A harmless joke is said to be “bullying and harassment”. The crap apps that monetize our free content then act as hall screens. pic.twitter.com/CGng0Io22X
– Sam Morril (@sammorril) January 20, 2023
He makes some valuable points. The vague guidelines used by the social media giants are infuriating, and they are intentionally opaque enough to allow for a greater scope of censorship.
Dictators use that approach to lure citizens into self-censorship. And it works.
Comedians today need social media to support their careers. Most independent shows rely on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to promote their shows, build a following, and test new content.
In contrast, Instagram and its peers need creators like Morril to fill their digital shelves with content. It is hypocritical for the same tech giant to arbitrarily declare a particular sketch or image to be off-limits. And, as usual, there is little opportunity for complaint or clarification.
Big Tech’s censorship is inextricably linked with Cancel Culture, a scourge for free speech.
Of course, some comedians claim Cancel Culture is a myth. Chelsea Handler thinks a comedian should only stop racism and he or she will be fine. Marc Maron says comedians cry because of censorship problemnot the censors themselves.
Morril won’t be the last comedian to see his work censored on social media. The more people stand up to talk about it, the more likely it is that Big Tech will reconsider its censorship practices.
