Social media censorship and government collusion
This could get very interesting:
There has been much public evidence that the Biden administration has pressured large social media and tech companies to censor political opponents under the guise of designating such speech “disinformation” or “misinformation.”
On May 5, 2022, the states of Missouri and Louisiana filed a Complaint alleging that such collusion violated, among other things, its citizens first amendment rights.
From the complaint:
2. A private entity violates the First Amendment “if the government coerces or induces it to take action the government itself would not be permitted to do, such as censor expression of a lawful viewpoint.” Biden v. Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia Univ., 141 S. Ct. 1220, 1226 (2021) (Thomas, J., concurring). “The government cannot accomplish through threats of adverse government action what the Constitution prohibits it from doing directly.” Id.
3. That is exactly what has occurred over the past several years, beginning with express and implied threats from government officials and culminating in the Biden Administration’s open and explicit censorship programs. Having threatened and cajoled social-media platforms for years to censor viewpoints and speakers disfavored by the Left, senior government officials in the Executive Branch have moved into a phase of open collusion with social-media companies to suppress disfavored speakers, viewpoints, and content on social-media platforms under the Orwellian guise of halting so-called “disinformation,” “misinformation,” and “malinformation.”
A federal court has granted the Motion for Expedited Discovery, which means that certain internal documents of government officials and social media platforms are likely to be revealed. There are four main topics alleged to have been suppressed at the government’s request:
1. The Hunter Biden laptop story prior to the 2020 Presidential election;
2. Speech about the lab-leak theory of COVID-19’s origin;
3. Speech about the efficiency of masks and COVID-19 lockdowns; and
4. Speech about election integrity and the security of voting by mail.
As I said, should be interesting.
Nina Jankowicz, the aspiring Czarina of Disinformation, may not have attained her desired position, but the pressure from the totalitarian left to silence contrarian opinions and to punish all conservative dissenters from the fabrications and the propaganda of the powerful “progressive” establishment shows no sign of abating; in fact, there exists an alarming synergy involving Big Tech, Big Education, the MSM, and the Biden administration (especially the Stasi-like FBI/DOJ) in the vilification of all who dare to expose the tissue of lies behind each and every narrative promulgated by leftists.
I wonder how likely it is that anything meaningful will come of this. I honestly don’t know. So many of our government institutions seem so irretrievably corrupt that my gut says that no, nothing will come of this. But I’ve been wrong many times.
Tim Pool with guest Rich Baris discussing Alex Berenson settlement with Twitter, bringing in government suppression of opponents (speculating on a “national security letter” basis), Elon Musk and etc:
https://youtu.be/ccX9Lq5Bz2M
Nonapod:
Me too. OTOH, it’s gratifying the issue has reached this level at all instead of remaining entirely suppressed.
However, the wheel has turned enough — think Biden’s polls, the recent Supreme Court decisions, more open discussions of the Wuhan Lab Leak theory — plus the prospect of a massive red tide in the midterm elections that I wouldn’t discount the possibility of some real changes to come.
Related—the Grand Design:
“How Did We Miss This Video? The WEF Told Us In 2018 That They Are Bolshies And They Are Coming For The United States Of America”—
https://blazingcatfur.ca/2022/07/13/how-did-we-miss-this-video-the-wef-told-us-in-2018-that-they-are-bolshies-and-they-are-coming-for-the-united-states-of-america/
This sounds promising. Discovery is underway. Remember, many of us thought the overturn of Roe would never happen.
Sundance at Conservative Treehouse contends that Twitter’s financials don’t make sense, they lose more than they make consistently. This leads him to conclude that Twitter is deeply involved with the intelligence agencies that trade their massive computer power for access to information on Twitterati. YMMV
Well, if Elon Musk countersues, the discovery process may be fun.
Federal law is clear enough. However, this is the left here, they have no respect for any law that acts as an obstacle to their agenda.
As has been repeatedly demonstrated, the DOJ is free to ignore violations of federal law. A President and/or a Congress that is unwilling or unable to do anything about an AG who refuses to enforce the law, renders such laws into a dead letter.
“A federal court has granted the Motion for Expedited Discovery, which means that certain internal documents of government officials and social media platforms are likely to be revealed.” neo
Weve seen the FBI, DOJ and other federal agencies either ignore such demands or under the rubric of “national security” redact out so much in a document as to render it useless.
Upon what basis would we hope, much less expect the Biden administration to direct honest compliance by federal agencies with the federal court’s ruling?
As for Big Tech, knowing that there will be no consequence for them, claims that relevant documents have been ‘lost’ and accidentally disposed of are certainly a possibility.
Criminal behavior never willingly complies with efforts at legal discovery. Nor will government officials who knowingly act in an unconstitutional manner, when they know that there will be no consequence for them.
}}} Criminal behavior never willingly complies with efforts at legal discovery. Nor will government officials who knowingly act in an unconstitutional manner, when they know that there will be no consequence for them.
Agreed, but this is why there are “whistle blowers”, and we can hope for some convenient “leaks”… Some people will rat out others because they don’t like them. Some because they see (correctly) the higher principle. And some just because getting rid of someone above them is a pathway to advancement.
}}} This sounds promising. Discovery is underway. Remember, many of us thought the overturn of Roe would never happen.
Oh, I knew that it was likely to happen, if we kept electing Decent Presidents. What’s sad is that we had to get the composition to 6-3 instead of 5-4 to accomplish it.