“Those who control the story, control society.”

-Plato

Introduction

Since 2016, social media platforms have silenced conservatives using the pretext of suppressing misinformation.

It is now clear that these social media platforms were following orders from Democrats and democratic-controlled government agencies.

Weaponizing Social Media

In 2016, in the wake of Hillary Clinton’s loss, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) concluded the reason Trump won was because of “misinformation.” In 2016 the DNC weaponized social media platforms.

In July 2021, then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, in one of the most anti-free speech statements ever made by the U. S. government said, “We are flagging posts for Facebook that spread misinformation. We are in regular touch with these social media platforms regarding misinformation.”

Lawsuit Against Biden Administration

A First Amendment lawsuit, Missouri v. Biden, is gaining momentum. In the lawsuit, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt detailed a massive “censorship enterprise” within the Biden administration to pressure Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other tech companies to “suppress private speech that federal officials disfavor.”

The lawsuit alleges that more than 60 Biden officials across 13 agencies violated the First Amendment rights of Americans by having them censored or banned from social media platforms.

Twitter Censors on Demand

Intelligence and State Department officials had Twitter censor accounts they deemed guilty of misinformation. Both agencies pushed the narrative that Twitter was a Russian disinformation platform.

Democrats were taking cues from Hillary Clinton who demanded “It’s time for Twitter to stop dragging its heels and live up to the fact that its platform is being used as a tool for cyber-warfare.”

In the weeks before the 2020 election, Twitter was so confused by the various streams of incoming requests for censorship, staffers had to ask the FBI to sort out the requests for them.

Twitter was a handsomely paid subsidiary of the FBI. The FBI paid Twitter over $3 million to censor posts the FBI did not like, including the Hunter Biden laptop story.

FBI Met Weekly with Big Tech

In an interview with Joe Rogan in August 2022, Mark Zuckerberg admitted that Facebook made a mistake when it banned the New York Post report about Hunter Biden’s laptop the month before the 2020 election.

Zuckerberg confessed that the FBI had told him not to allow the story, which contained details of Hunter’s drug use and questionable business dealings with foreign governments, to gain traction. The FBI claimed it was “Russian disinformation.”

An FBI agent testified in November 2022 that the FBI held weekly meetings with Big Tech companies ahead of the 2020 presidential election to discuss “disinformation and censorship.”

Musk Releases “The Twitter Files”

In December 2022, Musk published the “Twitter Files”, which revealed internal meetings held at Twitter to coordinate censoring the New York Post story about Hunter Biden’s laptop.

The former head of legal at Twitter, Vijaya Gadde, played a key role in blocking the story, ignoring requests from both inside and outside Twitter to allow the story to play out.

Facebook Threatened

After the Democrats lost control of Twitter, a handful of Democrat members of Congress gave Facebook an ultimatum. Letters from Adam Schiff (D – CA), Andre Carson (D-IN), Kathy Castor (D-FL), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) were sent to Facebook asking them to “recommit” to censoring opposing views.

A not-so-subtle threat was made that if Facebook reduced its censorship, it may face a congressional investigation.

Conclusion

The First Amendment has no qualifier excluding “misinformation.” The Founders of America understood that all opinions and viewpoints need protection.

Benjamin Franklin warned 250 years ago, “Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freedom of speech.”

Photo by Esther Vargas

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