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At the heart of this news outlet’s editorial philosophy is a belief in the marketplace of ideas: The notion that our audience should be exposed to perspectives which differ from – or are diametrically opposed to – those espoused by me (and those who think like me).
Why do I believe in such a principle? Because as flawed human beings, none of us has a monopoly on the truth. Well, none save myself and Prioleau Alexander, obviously.
Seriously, though, competition in the marketplace of ideas is what the American discourse is all about … or at least what it should be about. Unfortunately, in the increasingly dystopian 21st century version of America a muscular thought marketplace is being usurped by a Big Brother conspiracy that would make George Orwell blush.
We saw state-sponsored censorship run rampant during the Covid-19 pandemic – and ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Only recently has there been a return to some semblance of fairness on at least one social media platform – but it remains an uphill battle on most of these platforms.
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This week, victims of the latest round of thought-policing scored a huge victory when a federal judge issued a censorship injunction against the administration of Joe Biden. The injunction – issued on Independence Day – expressly prohibits additional attempts by Biden administration officials to compel the censorship of viewpoints with which they disagree as well as demands to “push” or “amplify” agendas they support.
According to a ruling from U.S. district judge Terry A. Doughty of Louisiana, Biden and his underlings were enjoined from “urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech.”
Why? Because they have been engaged in all of those things on an unprecedented scale.
“The present case arguably involves the most massive attack against free speech in United States’ history,” Doughty wrote in his ruling (.pdf). “In their attempts to suppress alleged disinformation, the federal government, and particularly the defendants named here, are alleged to have blatantly ignored the First Amendment’s right to free speech.”
At the heart of the lawsuit – brought by the states of Missouri and Louisiana along with multiple individual plaintiffs – is the allegation that government actors “colluded with and/ or coerced social-media platforms to suppress disfavored speakers, viewpoints, and content on social-media platforms.”
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RELATED | ‘A REVOLUTION AGAINST ONLINE CENSORSHIP‘
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“The evidence thus far depicts an almost dystopian scenario,” Doughty wrote. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, a period perhaps best characterized by widespread doubt and uncertainty, the United States Government seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth’.”
“The White House defendants made it very clear to social-media companies what they wanted suppressed and what they wanted amplified,” Doughty continued. “Faced with unrelenting pressure from the most powerful office in the world, the social-media companies apparently complied.”
Here are a few of the messages sent by Biden administration officials to social media companies, which Doughty described as “examples of coercion exercised by the White House defendants.”
- “(I) cannot stress the degree to which this needs to be resolved immediately. Please remove this account immediately.”
- “Are you guys fucking serious? I want an answer on what happened here and I want it today.”
- “This is a concern that is shared at the highest (and I mean highest) levels of the WH.”
- “How much content is being demoted, and how effective are you at mitigating reach, and how quickly?”
To make sure the point was not lost on these companies, a White House communications official revived threats issued by the previous administration to revoke social media companies’ protection from liability if they failed to adhere to the new regime’s mandates.
“The public and private pressure form the White House apparently had its intended effect,” the ruling alleged, noting that a group of accounts flagged by the Biden administration “were censored, and pages, groups and accounts linked to (them) were removed.”
That is pure Big Brother, people. Pure Orwell.
Sadly, but not surprisingly, mainstream media outlets including The New York Times portrayed Doughty’s injunction in a negative light – as something that “could curtail efforts to combat false and misleading narratives about the coronavirus pandemic and other issues.”
Hmmm. False and misleading narratives … like this?
(Click to View)
Whatever the issue, though … and whatever you think about it … shouldn’t you be allowed to share those thoughts in a free society?
“The most surreal fact of U.S. political life is that the leading advocates for unified state/ corporate censorship are large media corporations,” journalist Glenn Greenwald tweeted in response to the Times coverage.
Also, while the Times hailed the ruling as “a victory for Republicans,” liberal Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised the injunction.
“The judge got it exactly right when he wrote, ‘Freedom of speech and press is the indispensable condition of nearly every other form of freedom,’” Kennedy said in a statement. “Without freedom of speech, there is no democracy.”
“The case is about blatant censorship, in which government agencies colluded with and coerced tech platforms to censor Constitutionally-protected speech,” Kennedy added.
Indeed …
To read the ruling for yourself, download the document below …
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THE RULING …
(Via: U.S. District Court)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven children.
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8 comments
lol
Much like Fits”News” claims of Elon Musk being a free-speech champion, this ruling will be soundly dismissed by the facts on the ground…and by the courts.
You a betting man?
I’m sure the three wise judges President Trump appointed to the Supreme Court will revise this warning. These brown shirt wearing posters hate free speech.
ruling
So you really think the supreme court is going to strike down our first amendment right? That’s hilarious.
Will has the opportunity to confront the nonsense his own party peddles, instead he carries the banner for it.
It bears repeating every time. Why do you think Republicans fight so hard to protect the spreading of misinformation, hate, and fraud under the guise of free speech absolutism? Where is the effort to correct the record, speak truth to power, to call out their own side for these behaviors? Is there not a moral, ethical, spiritual calling to truth?
To be clear, these guys aren’t just being devil’s advocates. They’re protecting their business model. They’re saying whatever they have to say to stay relevant in the age of misinformation. Being part of the problem brings short term personal success at the cost of the long term success of society. Empathy for people gullible enough to believe what they say need not apply.
Grift and Observer? did you poor slobs actually take Fauci’s and Biden’s advice and get the deadly Wuhan jab? I tried to warn all on Facebook, but Zuck had Biden’s d*** in his mouth and wouldn’t let me pass this life saving advice on to others.
Some people just need to get out of their echo chamber. It’s looking like the lab leak theory and gain of function research for covid is pretty likely, which will be the biggest misinformation told in our lifetimes…by democrats.