I came across a post on Reddit showing Mussolini at the end of his career, specifically him hanged from his ankles in the Piazzale Loreto. I left a comment, “we didn’t get the chance to do this with Hitler, but we should make this traditional.” Yes, not the most benign comment, but far “threatening violence or physical harm,” at least I think so. A bot must have come across that and thought “beep boop,” because suddenly my account was permanently banned. It’s honestly insulting that a human took no part in this process.
I’m with you, but as Noam Chomsky said, power already knows the truth. They are busy hiding it. Better speak the truth about power.
It’s not that power doesn’t know the truth - it’s that speaking it to them is a direct confrontation.
And without confrontation, no system will allow fundamental change.
The courage and sacrifice of the act of speaking truth TO power are what embolden others to do the same. It also forces the power in question to respond to the truth teller, and their response, no matter what it is, weakens their hold.
For instance, attempting to paint the truth teller as a liar (FAKE NEWS) falters in the face of fact checkers. This erodes the public trust for the power in question.
Censoring the truth teller can suppress the story only partially, and legitimizes their cause to the public once it gets out.
Arresting the truth teller creates a public spectacle which elevates the truth teller to the status of celebrity and almost certainly ensures their message gets out.
Killing the truth teller creates a martyr.