I don’t know if they’re the ones who came up with it or if it had been done before.  But Students for Life and the Susan B. Anthony List just did something very clever in response to the news that responsible pro-life advocate Live Action had been banned from Pinterest for being…well, pro-life.

It appears Students for Life initiated the plan, but I saw it in this tweet from Susan B. Anthony List: 

Hey @Pinterest, if you ban one of us you’ll have to ban all of us.

We are joining @StudentsforLife and will post @LiveAction content and ensure we link through to their informative, fact-based website which you classified as “porn.” #LifeCensored #UnPinPinterest https://t.co/50osxjjrho

— Susan B. Anthony List (@SBAList) June 13, 2019

I love this idea.  In a nutshell, rather than abandoning their own platforms in solidarity – which could actually be interpreted fairly as completely counterproductive – these groups will continue posting their life-affirming content while giving Live Action updates as well.  It forces the hand of left-wing Big Tech. 

Rather than a single act of arbitrary platform deprivation, Pinterest now must decide whether they will ban all pro-life groups and give up any pretense of being even-handed or objective.  It’s a brilliant strategy that, to me at least, is far more effective than boycotts.

I have become a major opponent of boycotts over the last several years because it is repeatedly demonstrable that the only people who truly suffer are local branches and employees who have nothing to do with corporate decisions.  The nutty CEO calling the shots isn’t going to be hurt closing down a branch in one area and opening it in another.  Who is hurt are the local workers, many of whom probably share my values anyway.  Why would I seek to deprive them of their livelihood?  I don’t like boycotts.

But with this strategy, it isn’t Students for Life or Susan B. Anthony that are demanding a boycott.  They are making Pinterest decide whether they really want to remove major content providers and creators over politics.  Imagine if every pro-life American on Pinterest did the same thing.  Pinterest would be forced to decide whether they were willing to destroy their own business by purging half of their clientele.  Like I said, it’s a brilliant strategy.

Now extrapolate that outward to other tech platforms.  Twitter and Facebook would have a much harder time silencing conservative voices if remaining conservative voices committed to this kind of approach.  Boycotts out, Ban One/Ban All in.  I like that.