Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have made the headlines in recent weeks after the drama surrounding the U.S. election and the invasion of the Capitol building in Washington.

Talks of social media censorship have intensified with Twitter placing bans on users who express opinions that go against their ‘terms of use’. Former U.S. President, Donald Trump, was permanently banned on Twitter after the social media network faced increasing pressure to remove him following the violent Capitol riots last month.

“After a close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” announced the official handle for Twitter Inc.

Trump’s suspension is a part of a growing pattern of social media companies trying to shut down conservative voices and activists— an accusation that has gone on for years. However, a new free speech and human rights social media platform is giving every user the freedom to express themselves without fear of censorship.

ShoutIt.ca is a community driven social network and not-for-profit initiative with the primary goal of proving a free speech platform for those seeking an alternative to sites such as Twitter and Facebook—which has been fraught with worsening censorship.

Many users are becoming frustrated and increasingly worried over the growing online censorship by major social networking sites as it posses a threat to free exchange of opinions, perspectives and information—ultimately, threatening democracy as a whole.

The problem of selective censorship on social media is accelerating with thousands of users being de-platformed or prevented from generating revenue. The main targets are typically those who are seen to air ‘extreme views’ that go against popular opinions or leftists agendas. Asides from Twitter, other platforms are now stifling freedom of speech with Facebook announcing that it would now place bans on “white separatism” and “white nationalism” and not just only “hateful treatment of people based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity or religion”.

However, when free speech is censored, it makes people afraid of speaking out about bad and harmful practices in the society. In the guise of blocking hateful or harmful information, censorship hampers information from reaching and empowering communities—leading to widespread ignorance.

ShoutIt.ca is committed to providing a user-friendly platform where people with diverse opinions can connect and build sustainable communities without the fear of censorship. The new social network is empowering human rights by allowing users to follow their passion and exercise their rights to freedom of speech.

“Any form of censorship, any form, is unacceptable. Social platform such as Facebook, whose primary business is open communication between its over 2.7 billion members, have a moral and legal responsibility to allow those conversations to transpire, organically,” said Lon Safko, technology industry consultant and author of The Social Media Bible in a report.

Safko added that it is important to allow all sides of a conversation to be heard, regardless of whether it is acceptable to the viewer or not. If a viewer is offended or disagrees with an opinion, it is their right to either block the user or choose to ignore it, he said.

Crackdown on free speech has grown during the pandemic and many users are jumping ships from major social media sites to platforms like ShoutIt.ca where their freedom of speech would not be under threat. Instead, they would gain access to accurate and factual information, ensuring that they stay informed and well-connected during isolation and social distancing.