USA 2020 Elections: Thread

grarpamp grarpamp at gmail.com
Wed Nov 11 09:22:59 PST 2020


https://jonathanturley.org/2020/11/10/shredding-the-fabric-of-our-democracy-biden-aide-signals-push-for-greater-censorship-on-the-internet/
https://jonathanturley.org/2020/11/04/twitter-double-downs-on-censorship-with-renewed-warnings-on-trump-tweets/
https://mobile.twitter.com/BillR/status/1326006318898032640

After four years of constant censor and bias bit tech and media
trial run fraudulently stole 10% from Trump-Reps, US Democrats
publicly double down on their true censorship faces, call
for MASSIVE censorship regime.


"
“Shredding The Fabric Of Our Democracy”: Biden Aide Signals Push For
Greater Censorship On The Internet

We have been discussing the calls for top Democrats for increased
private censorship on social media and the Internet.  President-elect
Joe Biden has himself called for such censorship, including blocking
President Donald Trump’s criticism of mail-in voting. Now, shortly
after the election, one of Biden’s top aides is ramping up calls for a
crackdown on Facebook for allowing Facebook users to read views that
he considers misleading — users who signed up to hear from these
individuals.  Bill Russo, a deputy communications director on Biden’s
campaign press team, tweeted late Monday that Facebook “is shredding
the fabric of our democracy” by allowing such views to be shared
freely.

Russo tweeted that “If you thought disinformation on Facebook was a
problem during our election, just wait until you see how it is
shredding the fabric of our democracy in the days after.” Russo
objected to the fact that, unlike Twitter, Facebook did not move
against statements that he and the campaign viewed as “misleading.” He
concluded. “We pleaded with Facebook for over a year to be serious
about these problems. They have not. Our democracy is on the line. We
need answers.”

For those of us in the free speech community, these threats are
chilling. We saw incredible abuses before the election in Twitter
barring access to a true story in the New York Post about Hunter Biden
and his alleged global influence peddling scheme. Notably, no one in
the Biden camp (including Biden himself) thought that it was a threat
to our democracy to have Twitter block the story (while later
admitting that it was a mistake).

I have previously objected to such regulation of speech. What is most
disturbing is how liberals have embraced censorship and even declared
that “China was right” on Internet controls. Many Democrats have
fallen back on the false narrative that the First Amendment does not
regulate private companies so this is not an attack on free speech.
Free speech is a human right that is not solely based or exclusively
defined by the First Amendment.  Censorship by Internet companies is a
“Little Brother” threat long discussed by free speech advocates.  Some
may willingly embrace corporate speech controls but it is still a
denial of free speech.

This is why I recently described myself as an Internet Originalist:

    The alternative is “internet originalism” — no censorship. If
social media companies returned to their original roles, there would
be no slippery slope of political bias or opportunism; they would
assume the same status as telephone companies. We do not need
companies to protect us from harmful or “misleading” thoughts. The
solution to bad speech is more speech, not approved speech.

    If Pelosi demanded that Verizon or Sprint interrupt calls to stop
people saying false or misleading things, the public would be
outraged. Twitter serves the same communicative function between
consenting parties; it simply allows thousands of people to
participate in such digital exchanges. Those people do not sign up to
exchange thoughts only to have Dorsey or some other internet overlord
monitor their conversations and “protect” them from errant or harmful
thoughts.

Russo’s comments mirror the comments of other Democrats who are
seeking greater censorship. Indeed, in the recent Senate hearing on
Twitter’s suppression of the Biden story, Democratic senators ignored
the admissions of Big Tech CEOs that they were wrong to bar the story
and, instead, insisted that the CEOs pledge to substantially increase
such censorship. Senator Jacky Rosen warned the CEOS that “you are not
doing enough” to prevent “disinformation, conspiracy theories and hate
speech on your platforms.”

Again, as someone raised in a deeply liberal and Democratic family in
Chicago, I do not know when the Democratic party became the party for
censorship. However, limiting free speech is now a rallying cry for
Democratic members and activists alike. At risk is the single greatest
invention for free speech since the printing press.  Russo’s comments
reaffirms that the Biden Administration will continue this assault
against Internet free speech.  What is most unnerving is that Russo is
denouncing such free speech as “shredding the fabric of our
democracy.” There was a time when free speech was the very right that
we fought to protect in our democratic system.  It was one of the
defining principles of our Constitution system. It is now being
treated as a threat to that system.
"


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