On this episode of the Making Bank podcast, Justin Rezvani discusses internet censorship and how he’s been working on a decentralized and open-source social network called Zion.
Justin initially started working for Disney before starting his own company, theAmplify, at age 25. The platform was used to create large-scale native advertising campaigns for brands on social networks such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and Youtube. It was one of the world’s first-ever influencer platforms created without any outside fundi...
On this episode of the Making Bank podcast, Justin Rezvani discusses internet censorship and how he’s been working on a decentralized and open-source social network called Zion.
Justin initially started working for Disney before starting his own company, theAmplify, at age 25. The platform was used to create large-scale native advertising campaigns for brands on social networks such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and Youtube. It was one of the world’s first-ever influencer platforms created without any outside funding or investment. Along with a team assembled by Justin, he was able to scale theAmplify into a multi-million dollar company.
After the company was acquired in 2016, Justin would leave his role at theAmplify in 2018. Since 2020, Justin has shifted his focus to his latest venture Zion. In this episode, you’ll hear Justin explain how he aims to tackle internet censorship and enable people to own their own digital identities through his social network, Zion.
Listen to Josh and Justin discuss internet censorship and how to be unapologetically free:
- (3:08) Justin On Elon Musk Buying Twitter
The latest tech news was Elon Musk’s 44 billion dollar purchase of Twitter. Justin lays out his thoughts on the purchase, saying that it’s a good thing for the world. For the last 20 months, Justin has been working on creating a social network that eliminates censorship entirely. While Justin thinks Elon Musk buying Twitter is a step in the right direction towards a free and open network, he explains that Elon Musk and Twitter still have complete control to censor you if they want based on Twitter’s terms of service.
- (6:11) Three Things That Are Broken About The Internet
According to Justin, the top three things that are currently broken with the internet are that: most of us don’t actually own our digital identity. Second, a third party is involved whenever we need to communicate online. All messages and forms of communication are handled and regulated by third-party companies that own the social networks we use. Lastly, when it comes to payments, there are layers of arbiters involved in that as well. Justin then talks about how he aims to fix these problems through Zion.
- (9:22) How Justin Got Started
Justin started his journey as an entrepreneur at a young age. He started his first business at the age of 13, then at the age of 24, he started his first tech company theAmplify. Justin talks about his idea for starting his businesses and where his motivation came from — he believed in using technology to enable better and more useful interaction between people, making it easier for people to engage with other people. His goal has remained the same even today, and that’s through Zion; he aims to enable people to connect better than they ever could before.
- (12:48) The Initial Challenges That Came With Creating Zion
Every new business comes with its struggles, and Zion wasn’t any different. Justin discusses the initial struggle of starting a decentralized and open social network like Zion. Zion is the first of its kind; there simply is no other social network doing what Zion aims to do. The challenge that arises with Zion is finding out whether it will work at scale for millions of people at a time. However, Justin knows that creating this kind of technology is challenging, and that’s why along with his team, he’s working hard to make Zion possible.
- (16:14) Justin On The Current State Of Internet Censorship
Justin discusses the current state of media, where people can share their ideas, thoughts, or opinions with hundreds and sometimes millions of people online. He talks about how the issue of censorship starts when someone else disagrees with that person’s thought, idea, or opinion. Today when someone doesn’t agree with the majority, the consensus is that we censor them. He also talks about how media is free to use, but that doesn’t equate to having freedom of expression.
- (20:58) Unapologetic Freedom
Justin is also the author of a book titled Unapologetic Freedom; in the book, he explains how Bitcoin can help eliminate censorship and give us back our liberty and freedom forever. The book describes the history of censorship and provides you with an outline of tools that will enable you to have digital freedom in your life.
- (23:12) How Being Relentless Helped Justin
Justin opens up about his journey to success, and it wasn’t just an easy path for him. In 2019, Justin would have a seizure, which would lead to the discovery of a tumor in his right temporal lobe. It was a moment of adversity in Justin’s life because he had just sold his business, but now he finds out that he has a tumor in his brain. He’d go through with surgery, and here he is today; he’s back at it, working relentlessly to make Zion possible because the world needs it. You can read more about Justin and his story in his book and find out more about what it means to gain digital freedom today.
Links mentioned:
https://www.getzion.com
https://www.instagram.com/justinrezvani/?hl=en
https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinrezvani
https://www.amazon.com/Unapologetic-Freedom-Censorship-Sovereignty-Reclaims/dp/B09WTLF44K
https://gratitudegear.com
