Blogs shattered the Old Media monopoly during the 2004 election. Social media became an instrument to restore the power of the guild. As websites grew dependent on a few big social platforms for clicks, a leash that could tame the seemingly uncontrollable blogs was forged.
Some on the Left wanted to do this with crude government censorship, but that always runs into 1st Amendment problems, and it's a power they could lose in elections. Guild power is immune to elections. It is above the will of the people. It tells the people what they think.
When you ask a lefty, "Why do you want to establish government censorship powers that could one day fall into the hands of a Donald Trump?" you're asking a question many asked themselves before 2016, and all have asked themselves since.
Unelected guilds and mob actions give the Left control over speech without fear of losing elections or running into the 1st Amendment. They also confer the power to define terms, which is how government power can be bent to the Left even when it loses elections.
Much control over our lives is exercised not directly through laws, but through policies and regulations. If you can define what the terms mean, you can make policies and regulations dance to whatever tune you call.
Losing control over the phrase "Fake News" was a rare loss for the Left in the battle to define terms. They want to take it back so they can decide what constitutes "Fake News" and enforce policies that effectively ban it, ideally without a 1st Amendment case reaching SCOTUS.
Left-wing activists are not afraid of establishing non-governmental guild controls that would effectively ban "fake news," "hate speech," "dangerous ideas," etc. because they are confident they will define those terms. The sword of New Censorship is not double edged.
They have good reason for believing that. Look at the social media landscape right now. Look at the vile hatred and even incitements to violence on the Left that go serenely undisturbed. No major left-wing org or news network needs to worry about deplatforming or shadow-banning.
It's similar to the way Big Business actually *loves* Big Government regulations and taxes, contrary to the caricature of corporate fatcats selfishly voting for smaller gov. Big Biz values the insurmountable barrier to entry against small competitors. So does Big Media.
How do you squash the blog revolution of 2004? By making it very difficult for anyone outside the guild and its approved politics to attract a huge audience, and very easy for insiders to do so. You make the little outsider afraid to even TRY. And here we are. /end
