The Big Tech Bias Blackout by Peter Murphy |cfact.org
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he large social media and search companies, a.k.a., “Big Tech,” have long been out of the closet when it comes to censorship, as CFACT has documented. I first wrote about this 19 months ago, and it well predated my analysis. Big Tech is now abandoning any masquerade of standards or objectivity when they censor those with whom they dislike or disagree. In fact, they are blaring it with the increased backing of many politicians who swore an oath to the Constitution; the document that guarantees free speech as an inalienable right. The names of Big Tech moguls are increasingly familiar, including Jack Dorsey of Twitter, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook (which owns Instagram), Jeff Bezos of Amazon, and Sundar Pichai of Google (which owns YouTube). None of these individuals has yet reached the comparative wealth of 19th century “robber barons,” John D. Rockefeller (oil), Andrew Carnegie (steel) or J.P. Morgan (finance). However, the 21st century robber barons are no less powerful. The 19th century economic titans controlled industries and crushed competition from other businesses. They had disproportionate control over the economy and people’s livelihoods, even though America’s standard of living improved during this industrial age. Thanks to President Theodore Roosevelt and other courageous politicians and judges in the early 20th century, the monopolies were declared illegal and broken up. The 21st century tech giants are similarly crushing their competition, the latest flagrant example being the information platform, Parler. More insidious than the 19th century monopolies is Big Tech’s control of information. Controlling what the public knows is ultimate power—as any dictatorship understands—since it influences behavior of the populace, stifles opposition, and increases political and economic power. Just because Big Tech consists of private companies rather than government does not make their abridgments legal, much less acceptable. As with their 19th century predecessors’ threat to economic freedom, the power and control over the masses by today’s monopolistic few are a threat to constitutional freedom and more.
Examples of information control abound. Constitution, the right to free speech is Last spring, President Trump suggested becoming a truism in America, i.e., it exists that hydroxychloroquine could help treat on paper but less and less in reality. This is the coronavirus, a view held by countless because powerful tech monopolies are physicians. Youtube and Facebook cen- more brazen with the support of the politsored such people. Twitter refuses to permit ical party they help elect to control the discussion of evidence of irregularities in federal government. the last presidential election, but allowed U.S. Senator Chris Coons of Delaware years of rampant falsehoods about the one and the indefatigable Representative Alexprior. Twitter and Facebook just banned andria Ocasio-Cortez are the tip of the President Trump from their platforms, iceberg of politicians overtly in support of which were criticized by the senior legisla- censorship. Last fall, Sen. Coons urged tive counsel of the American Civil Liberties Twitter to clamp down on “climate denialUnion. But, the Jew-hating Ayatollah ism,” (i.e., anyone who challenges his view Khamenei, dictator of Iran, the world’s of climate Armageddon). AOC now wants leading terrorist nation, can still tweet, to “figure out how we rein in our media along with tyrants throughout the world. environment so you just can’t spew disinOne need not agree with or like the outgo- formation and misinformation.” ing President of the United States to find Beware of any politician, Left or Right, that twisted and hypocritical. wanting to “clamp down” viewpoints or Censorship is not a new reality to those “rein in” the media under the guise of stopin the climate change debate, especially for ping hate or preventing falsehoods. Rather, questioning mankind’s impact on the tem- it is about quelling disagreement and perature. Media figures like NBC’s Chuck opposition. Todd and activists such as Robert F. Kennedy, The answer to hate speech and disinforJr. have advocated censorship and impris- mation is more speech and more onment for dissenters from their dogma. information, not censorship or a cancel Censorship to squash opposing voices is culture to threaten one’s job and livelihood. now metastasizing on many issues like a Rioting and pillaging also are no excuse to societal cancer. As with other parts of the war against the First Amendment since
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