Following Facebook’s Oversight Board decision to keep a suspension in place for former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden recently shared that he believes social media platforms should do more to “stop amplifying untrustworthy content” and start blocking more “misinformation” related to COVID-19, vaccinations, and elections.
The debate on Big Tech censorship grew during the 2020 presidential campaign when Biden and fellow Democrat officials were protected by social media companies that were blocking damaging stories about them.
One of the most prominent examples was the Hunter Biden laptop story, which was censored and suppressed by Big Tech to the point that the New York Post’s Twitter account got suspended over it. The social media platforms stopped these stories from spreading online or being shared on numerous sites.
The Big Tech debate exploded after Facebook and Twitter banned former President Donald Trump’s social media accounts in January after thousands of his supporters sought to stop the confirmation of the 2020 US election results at the US Capitol. The American people questioned whether this was a violation of the First Amendment and if social media companies had the power to silence a world leader.
Facebook’s oversight board concluded that the platform was right to ban the president, but ruled that the suspension was imposed without offering any clear standards. The board adds that they need to outline a consistent set of rules for all social media users. Trump called the tech giants a “total disgrace and embarrassment to our country” and adds that corrupt social media companies must pay a political price.
“Free Speech has been taken away from the President of the United States because the Radical Left Lunatics are afraid of the truth, but the truth will come out anyway, bigger and stronger than ever before,” Trump said.
While President Biden declined to comment on whether or not he supports the ban on Trump’s social media platform, he emphasized that Big Tech has a responsibility to stop “damaging, sometimes life-threatening information” from going out to the American public.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki pointed to specific content that has been questioned and scrutinized in the world of social media. “The president’s view is that the major platforms have a responsibility related to the health and safety of all Americans to stop amplifying untrustworthy content, misinformation, disinformation – especially related to Covid-19, vaccines, and elections,” she said.
She said that the Big Tech platforms should do more to stop the damage of “disinformation and misinformation.” She even suggested that the First Amendment value of free speech does not apply to “online misinformation.”
“Well look, I think we are, of course, a believer in First Amendment rights. I think what the decisions are that the social media platforms need to make is how they address the disinformation, misinformation, especially related to life-threatening issues, like COVID-19 and vaccinations that continue to proliferate on their platforms,” Psaki said.
But Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, tweeted that our right to freedom of speech comes from the Constitution, not Facebook’s Oversight Board. She said that Big Tech has become an “extension of the left’s woke mob” and that Congress should hold them accountable.
Breaking up Big Tech is about more than just protecting free speech. Right now, Google, Facebook, and Youtube have control over much of what America sees. Between regulating and censoring media content, these companies have gained massive amounts of power online.
Many GOP lawmakers, including Sens. Rick Scott and Josh Hawley, are drafting up legislation to strip Big Tech giants of their immunity and be held for their actions. Other conservatives are fighting back by starting their own conservative-friendly social media platforms, like MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. Trump has even hinted at plans for launching his own platform.
Big Tech unchecked is just as scary as Big Government. The far-left is not interested in free speech, they are interested in intimidating and silencing Americans into their radical world views at any cost.
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