A Social Media Exodus Due to Big Tech Censorship? How Cannabis Brands Can Take The Lead!

If you haven’t been living under a rock with no WiFi lately, turns out that social media giants like Facebook and Twitter are censoring people’s right to speak. Several high-profile individuals have had their Twitter accounts suspended, and one that sparked international debate was Dr. Robert Malone MD who was one of the main contributors to the discovery and invention of mRNA vaccines and recently appeared on the hugely popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

Now, some of you might be saying things like, “Joe Rogan is a right-wing conspiracy freak who shouldn’t be taken seriously,” and if you’re thinking that, chances are you’re not really watching The Joe Rogan Experience. While it’s true that like everyone he has some ideas that some people might find strange, Joe Rogan is a very sensible and logical person and if you just watch one of his podcasts you’ll see the same thing. Most people’s problem with Joe Rogan stems from a mainstream media smear campaign that paints Rogan in a certain light.

Because when it comes to ratings, JRE tops all mainstream shows and with a large fan base, Rogan now has some influence in the public eye. However, unlike mainstream media, he doesn’t have to bow to corporate sponsors. He has an exclusive deal with Spotify that pretty much lets him do whatever he wants.

Regardless of Rogan’s accomplishments, he’s a huge critic of mainstream politics, news, finance, etc. He’s not afraid to ask tough questions and have episodes that can last for hours – people get a unique insight into the psyche of his guests . In the case of dr. Malone – someone who has been very outspoken against the entire Covid pandemic and has called companies like Pfizer “criminal by history alone” – which is true.

Of course, if you look at the mainstream media news channel’s main sponsor – Pfizer – there was a significant backlash against JRE and Dr. Malone, which culminated in Malone’s Twitter account being suspended days before he was scheduled to appear on the JRE Podcast. Not to mention that Youtube also removed the full podcast episode featuring the doctor.

A day after the interview, Joe Rogan tweeted that he would also open an account on Gettr, an alternative to Twitter that supposedly “respects freedom of expression.” The folks at Gab don’t believe that’s true, but social media platforms feuds notwithstanding, millions of people (including myself) opened an account on Gettr within hours of Rogan’s tweet.

While there have been no platform alternatives to the big social media monsters (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook), sites like Minds.com, Gab, and Gettr have gained prominence in a world where Big Tech seems to have the power to speak any language censor those they don’t like or that don’t “gel” with the mainstream narrative.

Society is witnessing what has happened to the cannabis industry

The cannabis industry is far too familiar with censorship. Even we here at Cannabis.net have felt Youtube purges and have had our accounts closed or frozen since we started talking about weed. Cannabis companies cannot use the same advertising as other companies. A cannabis company typically has to take several additional steps to bring their products to the public.

These big tech companies like the attention cannabis brings to their platform, but because they don’t want to be on the “wrong side of Johnny Law’s gaze,” they enforce law-abiding drug standards. This means that cannabis is treated as a Schedule I drug and all forms of advertising could be considered incriminating.

While it’s fair that a private company would want to protect themselves from such prosecutions, the fact that they censor and shadow ban accounts they deem “controversial” has sparked a major exodus from the mainstream to these alternative channels.

If companies within the cannabis industry would help lead the exodus, they could most likely build communities where they could have more influence over their subscribers. For example, you might have a million followers on your Facebook page, but you can only reach less than 10% of them organically due to Facebook’s algorithms. They want you to spend advertising money and therefore even with a large following you are not reaching the majority of your followers.

As such, these new alternative platforms present a unique opportunity to better connect with your tribe. These alternative companies, like Minds, give the user the ability to filter their feed based on their own preferences. If you can deliver the right kind of social media experience, it means you can create a much more direct connection between your end user and your brand.

However, Facebook and Twitter will continue to battle for dominance every time they censor someone for saying something they didn’t like, or every time they push a narrative that seems to prioritize certain corporate interests over the common good . However, all this loss of authority will only make people look for alternatives. Things like Telegram and Discord have already gained popularity over the years, and these trends are set to continue.

Ultimately, cannabis brands should always try to “own their audience,” whether by getting their phone number or their email address — that’s just good marketing practice. With a mass exodus looming, perhaps preparing the ground and promoting these alternative social media platforms is a smart move. Considering that cannabis is so popular and stoners are inherently anti-the-man, you would definitely rack up some “stoner points” that could have a positive impact on your earnings.

If you’re pro-cannabis, you’re probably pro-freedom too… and if you also don’t like it when people censor unpopular speech, then maybe it’s time we all started posting a little more in these alternative spaces . I don’t know about you, but I don’t have as much fun on Twitter anymore because I see that everything is loaded with a certain level of toxicity.

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