FreeSpeech and Censorship: Thread

grarpamp grarpamp at gmail.com
Sun Mar 21 14:30:53 PDT 2021


Even the US Courts admit the Fake News is totally owned
by the Democrats Leftists, and totally biased and influencing
the US against the Republicans and all other schools of thought...


https://www.theepochtimes.com/federal-judge-alleges-democrats-are-close-to-controlling-all-major-news-outlets_3742390.html
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20518790-19-7132-1890626

"A Threat To American Democracy" - Federal Judge Alleges Democrats
Control Almost All Major News Outlets

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

A federal judge this week said that the Democrat Party is close to
controlling the press as he detailed what he described as shocking
bias against Republicans.

D.C. Circuit Court Judge Laurence Silberman outlined his opposition to
the Supreme Court’s key decision in 1964 in New York Times v.
Sullivan, which has since protected many media outlets from lawsuits.

Silberman, a Reagan appointee, wrote that the ruling is “a threat to
American Democracy” and must be overturned.

    “The increased power of the press is so dangerous today because we
are very close to one-party control of these institutions. Our court
was once concerned about the institutional consolidation of the press
leading to a ‘bland and homogenous’ marketplace of ideas. It turns out
that ideological consolidation of the press (helped along by economic
consolidation) is the far greater threat,” he continued.

    “Although the bias against the Republican Party—not just
controversial individuals—is rather shocking today, this is not new;
it is a long-term, secular trend going back at least to the ’70s. (I
do not mean to defend or criticize the behavior of any particular
politician).

    Two of the three most influential papers (at least historically),
The New York Times and The Washington Post, are virtually Democratic
Party broadsheets. And the news section of The Wall Street Journal
leans in the same direction. The orientation of these three papers is
followed by The Associated Press and most large papers across the
country (such as the Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, and Boston
Globe).

    Nearly all television—network and cable—is a Democratic Party
trumpet. Even the government-supported National Public Radio follows
along,” he added.

The news outlets mentioned didn’t return requests for comment.

The judge also expressed concern about the influence that Big Tech
wields over how news is distributed, referencing how Twitter limited
the spread of a New York Post article about President Joe Biden’s son
Hunter Biden.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey later told lawmakers that what happened was a mistake.

Silberman added that there are few notable exceptions to the outlets
he mentioned: Fox News, the New York Post, and the Journal’s editorial
page.

    “It should be sobering for those concerned about news bias that
these institutions are controlled by a single man and his son. Will a
lone holdout remain in what is otherwise a frighteningly orthodox
media culture? After all, there are serious efforts to muzzle Fox
News. And although upstart (mainly online) conservative networks have
emerged in recent years, their visibility has been decidedly curtailed
by Social Media, either by direct bans or content-based censorship,”
he wrote.

The uniformity of news bias has a political impact, the judge
continued, pointing to author Tim Groseclose’s 2011 book: “Left Turn.”

The George Mason University professor said in his book that he found
the way outlets report more favorably on Democrats aids the party’s
candidates by 8 to 10 percent in a typical election.

Silberman was writing a partial dissent in the case of Liberian
government officials Christiana Tah and Randolph McClain versus Global
Witness Publishing, an organization that investigates human rights
abuses.

    “It should be borne in mind that the first step taken by any
potential authoritarian or dictatorial regime is to gain control of
communications, particularly the delivery of news. It is fair to
conclude, therefore, that one-party control of the press and media is
a threat to a viable democracy. It may even give rise to
countervailing extremism,” Silberman concluded.

“The First Amendment guarantees a free press to foster a vibrant trade
in ideas. But a biased press can distort the marketplace. And when the
media has proven its willingness—if not eagerness—to so distort, it is
a profound mistake to stand by unjustified legal rules that serve only
to enhance the press’ power.”


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