I had the opportunity to interview Chris Santos, the founder and CEO of Sayscape, a free speech alternative social media company. This is one of the social media platforms I’ve been using for while now, and genuinely enjoy the experience more than the other alternatives. Chris has caught my eye on social media lately as he has gone deeper into explaining the shady practices of Parler.
We began talking about solutions to Big Tech censorship. We talked about how repealing Section 230 was a bad idea, particularly because it would harm small tech. The obvious solution would be to for the government to stop protecting Big Tech under Section 230 when they are violating it, not removing it altogether. I explain how breaking up these companies, using antitrust law, would effectively be cutting off the head of a hydra. And this hydra would be aimed against small tech. We need new companies not smaller old ones.
Many conservatives believe that Parler is the answer to censorship on Twitter, but my Parler experience certainly tells me that this isn’t the case. On Parler, no one can really see your posts, unless you are an influencer. Chris explains how their algorithms boost influencers, like Twitter and Facebook do, which effectively shadow bans users.
What makes Sayscape a distinct platform is that Sayscape has a level playing field for all users. They do not boost influencers or pander to a certain audience. Unfortunately, this does not help them grow a platform. On Sayscape, they do not censor that which does not violate US law. Their private chat (DMs) are end to end encrypted. They also have a veterans and first responders chat for the purpose of making sure these individuals don’t feel isolated.
One of the topics we addressed was porn. Sayscape does not allow porn, and Chris was very resolute about that. Parler initially had the same position, but Chris explained that their algorithm could not handle the porn trolls, a threat Sayscape could face. But Chris was adamant that he would not pander to this community. I assure Chris that this doesn’t hurt Sayscape’s free speech credentials because porn isn’t speech.
Ultimately, this was a fun conversation that really explores what it takes to create a social media platform. Chris is an expert in software development and can point out where companies go wrong and how companies like TikTok operate. He can articulate how Big Tech companies create algorithms that censor people. He was even able to diagnose the issues with my Parler account in a way I could understand.
I have experimented with a number of small tech social media companies, and Sayscape has remained a personal favorite, and I would recommend this product to an audience asking where can they tell the truth when social media companies are trying to determine what is truth.
COVID-19 lockdowns are taking down an independent news outlet
Nobody said running a media site would be easy. We could use some help keeping this site afloat.
Colleagues have called me the worst fundraiser ever. My skills are squarely rooted on the journalistic side of running a news outlet. Paying the bills has never been my forte, but we’ve survived. We have ads on the site that help, but since the site’s inception this has been a labor of love that otherwise doesn’t bring in the level of revenue necessary to justify it.
When I left a nice, corporate career in 2017, I did so knowing I wouldn’t make nearly as much money. But what we do at NOQ Report to deliver the truth and fight the progressive mainstream media narrative that has plagued this nation is too important for me to sacrifice it for the sake of wealth. We know we’ll never make a ton of money this way, and we’re okay with that.
Things have become harder with the coronavirus lockdowns. Both ad money and donations that have kept us afloat for a while have dropped dramatically. We thought we could weather the storm, but the resurgence of lockdowns that mainstream media and Democrats are pushing has put our prospects in jeopardy. In short, we are now in desperate need of financial assistance.
The best way NOQ Report readers can help is to donate. Our Giving Fuel page makes it easy to donate one-time or monthly. Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal as well. We need approximately $17,300 to stay afloat through March when we hope the economy will be more open, but more would be wonderful and any amount that brings us closer to our goal is greatly appreciated.
The second way to help is to become a partner. We’ve strongly considered seeking angel investors in the past but because we were paying the bills, it didn’t seem necessary. Now, we’re struggling to pay the bills. This shouldn’t be the case as our traffic the last year has been going up dramatically. June, 2018, we had 11,678 visitors. A year later in June, 2019, we were up to 116,194. In June, 2020, we had 614,192. In November, 2020, we hit 1.2 million visitors.
We’re heading in the right direction and we believe we’re ready talk to patriotic investors who want to not only “get in on the action” but more importantly who want to help America hear the truth. Interested investors should contact me directly with the contact button above.
As the world spirals towards radical progressivism, the need for truthful journalism has never been greater. But in these times, we need as many conservative media voices as possible. Please help keep NOQ Report going.
