(TargetLiberty.org) – Big-tech companies continued their long-standing practice of throttling Conservative voices throughout 2020. They employed various techniques to suppress information coming from politicians, their family members, media outlets, and the list continues.
Below are four examples of big-tech company efforts to silence Conservative voices on their platforms. However, this list represents only a small sample of their efforts in the last 11 months.
Social Media Censors Numerous Post-Election Tweets by President Donald Trump
Both social media giants, Facebook and Twitter, actively censored numerous election-related posts by the president on his official verified accounts, posting warning notices on them. Twitter posted warnings on 8 of the president’s tweets the first 48 hours after the November 3 election. Facebook wasn’t quite as bad, but both companies continue posting labels on his tweets several times a day in some instances.
Big Tech Giants Coordinate Censorship Efforts
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted to coordinating censorship efforts with Twitter and Google during a November 17 hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. According to his testimony, the big tech companies used an internal system located on Facebook servers called “Tasks” to share information and discuss censorship strategies.
Twitter Censors News Outlets Reporting the Election Results
On November 2, Twitter posted a notice advising users it would label posts discussing election results from candidates, their campaigns, and large accounts. Additionally, Twitter advised that only seven media companies would be exempt from the policy, with Fox News representing the only Conservative outlet on the list.
A few weeks ago, we announced how we will handle Tweets about US election results.
We want to remind you what to expect and share a preview of the labels we may apply. š§µhttps://t.co/Fuawn83HrM
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 2, 2020
Twitter Censors Republicans to Protect Hunter Biden
Twitter went on high alert on October 14 after the New York Post published an article revealing “smoking gun” emails from Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s son, Hunter. They displayed a pattern of alleged influence-peddling while conducting high-dollar business transactions overseas.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany and Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee had posts about the allegations censored along with other leading conservative voices.
The four items listed above constitute a tiny sampling of some of the most overt examples of big-tech company censorship this year. Fortunately, Congress continues pushing back on these flagrant violations of free speech norms. Additionally, thereās talk of limiting legal protections these companies currently enjoy.
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