The announcement comes as the latest wave of censorship swept across social media giants Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Hundreds of accounts have been purged from Facebook including The Free Thought Project, The Anti-Media, multiple 'Alt-Right' pages which include anti-police brutality and anti-war pages as well.
Many of these alternative outlets already have a presence on Steemit as well:
, 
and Ben Swann's own 
.The message is loud and clear, tech giant platforms are no longer a place free speech and freedom of expression. They are a domain of approved messages and a place where only authorized ideas and discussion are permitted.
Reporters for independent media are increasingly turning to the blockchain alternatives in the wake of the ongoing censorship. Recently, Overstock founder Patrick Byrnes and Medici Ventures invested $6 million into Minds.com.
Cryptostream.online
This is not a war of ideas.
We are right now engaged in a war against ideas and it's time to fight back.
-Ben Swann
Follow Ben Swann on Steem/Steemit here:
ISEGORIA
Isegoria [i-sē-gor-í-a] noun;from the ancient Greek meaning
“Equality of all in freedom of speech”
According to the official ISEGORIA website ISEGORIA will reward its users with it's own cryptocurrency/token reward system.
Isegoria will have a cryptocurrency rewards system built into the platform that will reward journalists and entertainers who create high-quality and engaging content, as well as the users who engage in the content. This will be the first truly “responsive” media company as our users will have “voting rights” to pick what content is covered and investigated.
Along with it's own cryptocurrency token, the platform will incorporate an Upvoting system, much like Steem/Steemit already employs, to help give visibility to top quality content.
https://isegoria.com/
Core Concepts
Describing the core tenets of the platform, the website identifies two major components -
1) A 24hr Streaming Platform
2) A Treasury That Funds Independent Creators
With the ISE whitepaper scheduled for release in December 2018 the details of how this blockchain-based system will function have yet to be fully disclosed. Neverthless, the website does outline some key principles. Firstly, the platform will be divided into three major verticals.
1) ISE Live
2) ISE Quality
3) ISE Indie
ISE Live
- Programmed 24/7 streaming channel
- News, docudrama, video podcast and entertainment programming.
- Lineup varies day to day and season to season as in a traditional cable or streaming lineup.
- Content for live TV curated from channels. This vertical will look like a streaming cable or “over the top channel” such as VICE.
ISE Quality
- Platform for independent channels.
- Channels will be populated with content currently being purged from other platforms.
- Channels will be responsible for producing their own content.
- Isegoria may pay content creators to make content exclusive to their platform.
- Voting rights for consumers move content from channels to the live lineup.
ISE Indie
- Independent journalists and content creators who are not large enough to have enough ongoing content to populate a channel will have access to a treasury system.
- One-off projects can be pitched and voted on by the community. These projects can and will, at times, move to the live TV schedule.
- They will collectively be placed on their own Indie channel under “ISE-Quality.”
- This will combat the issue of independent media being unable to find a funding mechanism and will help to combat entities like Media Matters for America as they attempt to cut off advertisers to indie journalists.
Source: ISEGORIA.com
A particularly noteworthy and exciting aspect of the project is the ability for content creators to submit proposals for their own independent media projects in order to receive funding from ISEGORIA's treasury.
Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)
There will be a small fee, priced in our Isegoria tokens, that will be required to submit a proposal. Once the project has been submitted, the Isegoria token holders will be given the chance to vote on the project. If the project is funded, the requested amount of Isegoria tokens will be released to the proposal owner to create the content. Once the content has been created, it will have the chance to be featured on Isegoria’s 24-hour streaming platform: ISE LIVE.
Thus, independent journalists who struggle to fund their own initiatives will have the ability to receive support directly from the platform.
Token Distribution - DASH? / SMT? / ERC20? / EOS?
As mentioned above, the ISEGORIA team has yet to complete their whitepaper (December 31st, 2018) that should provide more in-depth understanding of the blockchain protocol some of already begun to speculate on whether the project might look to leverage existing blockchains.
Those who are familiar with
know that his latest investigative segment Reality Check has been sponsored by DASH cryptocurrency while also distributing the content on the STEEM blockchain at the same time. This suggests that there are several possibilities in the cards for ISEGORIA including a STEEM-based SMT which are scheduled for release in early 2019.Some in the ISEGORIA Telegram channel have also been speculating on possible paths forward for the project as it progresses.
ISEGORIA Telegram Channel -
https://t.me/joinchat/EWkjfg6iPa1J3zWuwBXzog
ISEGORIA On Censorship
Discussing recent attempts to shutdown GAB, an alternative to Twitter, co-founder Mike Baysek made the follow statement to cryptoglobe while also expressing his condolences to the families of those affected in the latest mass shooting in Pittsburgh.
I’m relieved that authorities have the suspect in custody. However, Internet Service Provider, Joyent’s action to suspend services to Gab as a result of criminal outcomes that have not been adjudicated is something that should be of great concern to everyone. The suspect merely had an account/on this service. He did not own the service. It’s all but certain that he had accounts on other services like Facebook, Gmail, Twitter and the like. What is happening here is that, in the wake of social media censorship backlash, the mainstream media are trying to manufacture the public’s consent to shut down alternatives to the centrally controlled, managed and surveilled social networks.This is why blockchain is so important. We can’t censor away the evils of humanity. We need to record them accurately and forever, so we can never forget this barbaric time in our history. Those who are ignorant to history are condemned to repeating it.
YouTube Introduction
Check out the YouTube intro uploaded on October 31t, 2018
Life Line
The
account has long been a supported of independent media and investigative journalism on the Steem blockchain and try to support voices that are increasingly finding themselves pushed to the margins and heavily censored.Many of those that have been censored have a presence on the STEEM blockchain but are struggling to find support. Please consider following some of these important independent voices.
Related Article: Shifting Tides
Personally, I'm very encouraged by the announcement of this initiative and hope it allows for a stable safe haven for self-sustaining and non-corporate media.
The inclusion of a mechanism to fund independent media creators is also a much needed and vital tool moving forward.
Learn more about the project by visiting their website or by following / .
