Donald Trump ran the country just like Adolf Hitler.
Ron DeSantis would run the country just like Benito Mussolini.
The (R) after Republican politicians' names should really be an (F), for fascism. Because what is the Republican Party if not a bunch of fascists? You certainly won't find any fascist tendencies in the Democratic Party, no sirree. Just look at the most powerful Democrat in the country right now. Joe Biden. He's a benevolent ruler with a love and respect for the people who elected him. He's America's ice-cream-loving, hair-sniffing grandpa! And he cares about us so much that he will stop at nothing to protect us from things that can hurt us. Like social media content that conflicts with official White House talking points and policies.
Actually, that sounds exactly like something a fascist dictator would do. Maybe Joe Biden's not such a benevolent ruler after all:
Facebook removed content related to Covid-19 in response to pressure from the Biden administration, including posts claiming the virus was man-made https://t.co/B3QBmvtUX0
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) July 28, 2023
More from the Wall Street Journal:
“We have consistently made it clear that we believe social-media companies have a critical responsibility to take account of the effects of their platforms that they have on the American people, while making independent decisions about the content of their platforms,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a Thursday press briefing. Asked to comment for this article later Thursday, a White House spokesperson pointed to those comments.
...
The emails viewed by the Journal, which haven’t been previously reported, date to the spring and summer of 2021, when the White House was mounting a nationwide push for Americans to get vaccinated for Covid-19. Part of that push included a public and private campaign to get Facebook to more aggressively police vaccine-related content.
Administration officials had come to believe that many Americans were hesitant to get vaccines because of false information they saw on Facebook. “They’re killing people,” President Biden said that July.
The tongue-lashing caused Facebook to re-evaluate its policies about Covid-19 content—discussions that involved high-level company officials including Clegg and then-Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, the emails viewed by the Journal show.
Following the president’s “killing people” comment, the Facebook vice president circulated a memo assessing the difference between Facebook’s content policies and the Biden administration’s demands—some of which the company appeared ready to push back on.
“There is likely a significant gap between what the WH would like us to remove and what we are comfortable removing,” the Facebook vice president said.
Recommended
Basically, the White House was exerting major pressure on Facebook to conceal any information deemed by the White House to be false (even if it wasn't false at all). This included jokes about COVID origins and vaccines.
“The WH has previously indicated that it thinks humor should be removed..." https://t.co/sw5kDZ0RdR
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) July 28, 2023
If you think that sounds insane and dark, that's because it is.
Full quote, which is far more nefarious than the above, but I prefer it because these petty tyrants don't deserve to be taken seriously. pic.twitter.com/buLOORbFjh
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) July 28, 2023
What is this is not textbook fascism? The Biden administration effectively pointed a gun at Facebook and said "Silence debate and discussion or you're not gonna like how this ends for you."
The very idea of censoring people for describing their adverse effects because it might make other people more hesitant is so awful
— Kodos (@_Kodos_) July 28, 2023
Perhaps the only thing more disturbing than that is the fact that there are people out there who exist who fully support the government suppressing free speech.
WSJ once again pushing the ignorant speculation that Covid-19 was a man made virus. https://t.co/3l6TxC2hov
— Ned Rozell (@mrnedrozell) July 28, 2023
The Wall Street Journal isn't pushing that, but the fact that Ned is laser-focused on that says a lot about how much he values free speech. Which is not at all.
Good.
— Jenna Ellis (@jennafin) July 28, 2023
Even if it was a man made in some country , what the GOP did was inciting race issues on social media to spread hate , the GOP supporters blamed people for the virus without any action to solve the problem in real world
— Free coffee (@Freecoffee17) July 28, 2023
What???
Good. The government has control over public health. It’s in the Constitution that no one (but lawyers and law-adjacent people) have ever read.
— Nicole L. Augenti, Esq. (@Nicole1515) July 28, 2023
We'd like to see the part of the Constitution that gives the government the power to censor and suppress speech.
Good! Misinformation should be banned on social media. If you have some one saying that COVID-19 virus is not that serious and you have people dying because of COVID-19. That's misinformation.
— rose gamlin (@rosegamlin12) July 28, 2023
No, misinformation is insisting that the government has not only a right but an obligation run roughshod over the First Amendment. And you know what? That kind of misinformation shouldn't be censored, either.
This attack on Free Speech is such a significant story but there are far too many people that will dismiss because of their political biases. It is pathetic that anyone would stand for this sort of governmental intrusion. https://t.co/TdkmtZWuwz
— James DePorre (@RevShark) July 28, 2023
It's genuinely scary that any American citizen would defend the Biden administration on this.
I find it concerning how easily content can be removed from social media platforms due to external pressure. Freedom of speech should be protected, even if it involves controversial topics like the origins of COVID-19.
— Devyn ✸ Crypto lawyer (@xdevyn_frami67) July 28, 2023
Join the conversation as a VIP Member