Written by Nathan McDonald, Sprott Money News

For years I have warned about this, for years I have stated that these companies are not to be trusted, that they are listening to your every movement and tracking you in real time, selling your information to the highest bidder.

For years, people scoffed at this idea, they laughed it off, until recently.

People were outraged to hear that Facebook and other social media giants were indeed selling your information, they were gathering, collecting and packaging it to ad sponsors, but why were they shocked? Why couldn't they see the reality that was clearly in front of their eyes?

Because ignorance is bliss.

We live in interesting times indeed, times that are both exciting and precarious. We stand on a precipice of either great change, innovation and new levels of achievement, or we stand on the edge of complete and utter darkness.

Sadly, people are not standing up, they are not voting with their dollars and they are blissfully ignoring the ensnaring net that is slowly being drawn around them.

The digital dark age is here, and the elite few tech giants that are ushering it in are beginning their attack on anyone, anything that does not agree with their echo chamber of thought.

A small handful of companies, you know their names well, virtually control a massive part of our society now. They have near complete control over many aspects of your lives, and don't for a second think that they don't.

The vast majority of people in the West use some form of social media on a regular basis, whether it be Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google plus or Youtube. Yet these companies all hail from one small, pocket of the world, resulting in an incredibly narrow train of thought, and diversity.

These companies executives know each other, they meet socially and undoubtedly they discuss the future of the internet and how they can best shape it moving forward in their vision.

This is an incredibly frightening occurrence of events, as we the people have literally handed them dominance over our virtual social lives, an aspect of society that can now dictate whether or not you get a job, are successful, or fail in a key aspect of our lives.

Like it or not, the internet is a massive part of society and will likely become increasingly more so as we move forward into the future.

Over this past week, we have witnessed the first virtual execution of our times.

Alex Jones, the controversial, yet very popular conspiracy theorist and owner of Infowars, was their target and the verdict was absolute . He had to be, and he was destroyed.

Don't for a second think that I agree with all of his nonsense, nor do I like him, but what I do like is the free market, free speech and a free society. This week we lost that.

Collectively, they banned and deleted all of his accounts, all of his pages, in which he had millions of followers, in a series of virtual head-shots, wiping him off the internet, stating that he violated their "terms of service".

Linkedin, a platform where he posted no content, also deleted his account, even though he violated no terms of service, completing his wipe out and truly showing Silicon Valleys true intentions.

Alex Jones, was an easy target for them, but don't for a second think he will be the last. This week also saw a number of social media accounts banned linked to Ron Paul, libertarians and other major conservatives.

Now, rumors are swirling, that one of the largest sites on the internet, the Drudge Report will be next. Then, will it be Zero Hedge, and any other alt media website that doesn't agree absolutely with their train of thought? Who knows, but this should startle and alarm people.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and we are now seeing this in real time, once again, as we have many times previously throughout history.

This new found digital power over our lives is something new, and something that has to be resisted. Alternative social media websites, that support free speech and freedom of expression need to be supported, such as Minds and Gab.

This absolute digital power is exactly why I have been railing against the idea of a 100% digital fiat currency for years. The power that this would allow governments over our EVERYDAY lives, not just virtual, would be something out of a Orwellian nightmare and would make what we are seeing today via the social media tech giants look like child's play.

Get out of your comfort zone, stand up for what is right and vote both with your feet and your dollars. No company is too big to fail and no tide too big that it can't be resisted. The fight goes on for liberty, for freedom, as it always has and as it always will from now, until the end of time.

Written by Nathan McDonald, Sprott Money News

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