(UnitedVoice.com) – Liberal news sites and big tech companies are working overtime to limit the free speech rights of conservative voices and viewpoints. Over the last few weeks, the fanaticism of liberal companies working to stifle conservative voices has been blatant and obvious.
Major newspaper editors were forced out for allowing conservative views. The New York Times editorial staff forced out one of their own for allowing conservative Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-AR) op-ed to grace their paper. The Philadelphia Inquirer fired an editor for running the headline, “Buildings Matter Too,” during destructive riots.
Big tech is also joining the fray.
Twitter began fact-checking conservative posts with liberal websites and Google is now strong-arming conservative organizations that advertise on its platform. Just recently, Google banned the conservative website Zero Hedge from advertising. It’s also threatening to do the same to The Federalist if it doesn’t stop allowing comments on its articles.
Liberal Organizations Once Decried Censorship
Censorship goes against the grain of everything liberal organizations have claimed to practice for years. In sworn testimony before Congress over the years, the heads of Google, Facebook, and Twitter adamantly said they respected free speech and would do all they could to protect it. That was until Donald Trump won the White House in 2016 using their platforms.
The sad part is that the very thing they accuse conservatives of doing is the very thing the Left is doing as well. Far-left websites like the Daily Kos run unabated. What conservatives are dealing with now is a new thought police that will determine what is acceptable and isn’t acceptable to liberals who don’t agree with them.
In essence, censorship is nothing more than anti-Americanism.
America Was Warned
In 1989, President Ronald Reagan warned in his farewell speech that the resurgence in American pride at that time could be stripped from the country unless it was “grounded in thoughtfulness and knowledge.” He said that earlier generations were taught what it meant to be an American, love the country, and appreciate its institutions. Reagan reminded America that freedom is fragile and that it needs constant protection. He then said, “an eradication of the American memory” could result in the “erosion of the American spirit.”
There are few things more American than free speech and, for 30 years, the internet has been the instrument of it. Politics is at the heart of free speech. So, private entities must be careful not to infringe on it — especially those that operate as public squares. As a result of the blatant bias, the public square is being harmed as voices are suppressed in the political dialogue.
Conservatives Pushing Back
Until conservatives push back, censorship will continue to spread like wildfire.
Earlier this week, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced legislation that would allow Americans to sue big tech companies who participate in the censorship of political speech. The “Limiting Section 230 Immunity to Good Samaritan Act” would strip tech companies of their immunity under 230 of the Communications Decency Act, unless they revise their terms of service to guarantee they operate in good faith.
The legislation states its goal is to “provide accountability for bad actors who abuse the Good Samaritan protection…” Under this bill, The Federalist would be able to go to court to protect its free speech rights.” Hawley said that you can see what the tech companies are doing in the open and that the only way to stop it is to give people the right to sue when they’ve been wronged.
It’s time to put the wildfires out.
By Don Purdum, Freelance Contributor
Copyright 2020, UnitedVoice.com
