The Twitter files have broken open the case of the government trying to suppress speech on the platform on everything from the Hunter Biden laptop to COVID. Twitter head Elon Musk has also announced we’re going to be seeing the “Fauci Files” later this week.
The Democrats and liberal media had previously tried to sell us on the fiction that there wasn’t any suppression of speech going on, or that if it was happening, the government wasn’t involved in it and there weren’t concerning constitutional questions being implicated.
But now, we’re suddenly seeing prominent Democrats coming out and saying flat out that they should start controlling speech — for our own good, of course, because of all that horrible, evil “misinformation” or “hate speech.”
It was more than a little concerning, as I wrote last week, that a member of Congress for 35 years and a senator since 2007 Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), didn’t seem to have any understanding of the Constitution. He called for going after social media to rein in “hate speech” in complete contradiction to the First Amendment.
.@SenatorCardin: "If you espouse hate, if you espouse violence, you're not protected under the First Amendment. I think we can be more aggressive in the way that we handle that type of use of the internet." pic.twitter.com/t38Myy93ZI
— The Hill (@thehill) December 29, 2022
Not only did Cardin say they needed to be more “aggressive” in going after speech, but he also specifically pointed to what was being done in Europe as a model to copy. That’s crazy since various countries in Europe have resorted to punishing people now for speech that someone finds offensive. It’s the path we never want to go down, but that’s where the Democrats want us to go.
It’s not just Cardin. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) also ventured down that dangerous path when she went on “Meet the Press” on Sunday. She was speaking about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and called on changing it so that the government could go after “misinformation.”
Democrat Senator Amy Klobuchar endorses subjecting social media companies to "hefty lawsuits" to force them to "do something" about misinformation. pic.twitter.com/mQ9qmO3oos
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 1, 2023
“You can amend it and focus on certain kinds of speech misinformation, disinformation,” Klobuchar asserted. “And all you’re saying is, ‘We know people are going to put stuff on your alleged town square,’ which has become really a communications company. Your network, other news organizations, have limits in place and standards. And our argument’s going to be: If you start making money off of it, if you amplify it, that’s a whole different thing. Your angry emojis and all these things you’re doing, to make money.”
So let’s break that down. In case it wasn’t clear who she was referencing there, it’s Elon Musk, who called Twitter a “town square” which she’s mocking. Why suddenly do they want action when they didn’t want action before? Because now they no longer control Twitter. She’s also noting if Musk himself amplifies something that she thinks they have a right to go after all of Twitter to suppress “misinformation” and “disinformation.” Who gets to decide what that is? Why, they do, of course. Her desire to suppress “certain kinds” of speech is exactly why we have a First Amendment.
If they want to stop misinformation, maybe the Democrats should start with themselves because they’re some of the biggest purveyors of misinformation out there.
Klobuchar also endorsed the concept of going after social media companies with “hefty lawsuits” to force them to comply.
Democrat Senator Amy Klobuchar endorses subjecting social media companies to "hefty lawsuits" to force them to "do something" about misinformation. pic.twitter.com/mQ9qmO3oos
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 1, 2023
Check out how crazy this can get: She also blamed the attack on Paul Pelosi, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, and the Capitol riot on social media.
“And they’ve got to be liable when you’ve got situations where literally deranged people are believing their stuff, and going in, and taking a hammer, and bludgeoning the husband of the speaker of the House, or hundreds of thousands of blog posts that are allowed to go through with maps of the Capitol that they use to create an insurrection. At some point, when they can’t control their own platforms while they’re making billions of dollars from the American people, and over, as you point out, two thirds of Americans say it’s hurting our democracy, come on, Congress. Stop hiding behind this and get something done.”
That sounds like there’s some misinformation in there, including the “hundreds of thousands of blog posts.” No, I’m thinking two-thirds of Americans are not calling for violations of the First Amendment. And did she just say that they’re going to hold platforms responsible for what a crazy person does? That’s what she’s saying. They’ll use anything to go after speech they want to control. Meanwhile, what about the boatload of Democratic misinformation, like Russia collusion or countless other lies? Talk about a slippery slope — they’re greasing it now, so we slip all the way down the tyranny hill.
