Twitter Files journalist Matt Taibbi slammed online censorship during an appearance on Fox News.
Taibbi went on Fox News Oct. 5 to discuss Big Tech censorship and the Missouri v. Biden lawsuit going to the U.S. Supreme Court. The lawsuit, launched by the Missouri and Louisiana attorneys general, uncovered the federal government’s “vast censorship enterprise.” The attorneys general are suing the Biden administration to halt that anti-free speech federal action. Taibbi decried how concepts “totally alien to core American values” are being normalized, including the idea that so-called “disinformation” should be quashed, saying “We’re raising a generation that believes in totally different values.”
Taibbi began by responding to the host Trace Gallagher’s claim that America “shrugged its shoulders” about censorship. “I think people actually do care quite a bit about this issue,” he said, but the “mainstream press” does not, even though they should “care about it the most, because it most directly affects their livelihoods.” There was a “virtual blackout on this issue,” including with The Twitter Files, Taibbi said, and added that he was mystified by Missouri v. Biden not getting a “huge amount of coverage.”
Gallagher brought up a recent Pew Research poll where 70 percent of Democrats said the government should restrict allegedly false information, and 34 percent of Democrats said Americans have “too much freedom.” Asked if he was surprised, Taibbi said no.
“I think there’s been a concerted, you know, long propaganda effort that really … began after 9/11, but it accelerated in earnest especially [after] 2016, telling Americans that all sorts of problems” are “the result of disinformation or foreign interference,” the journalist explained. People are now thus “afraid” and “embracing concepts that are totally alien to core American values”, Taibbi stated.
“We do not have a tradition in this country of outlawing false information or lies” or “hate speech,” leaving the determination of what constitutes such content to the courts, he continued. Unfortunately, America is now breaking that precedent. “We’re raising a generation that believes in totally different values,” said Taibbi.
Just as airlines can’t forbid you a ticket under law for your opinion on climate change, Gallagher noted, citing the New York Post, the same rules on political discrimination should apply to social media and platform bans. Taibbi said he and others involved in The Twitter Files were “really, really worried” at the precedent of suspending services based on political opinions. He cited “the worst example” as being a person merely accused of a crime and unable to access banking or GoFundMe services. “You can even be disenfranchised from your basic rights just purely on accusation,” he exclaimed.
Taibbi’s comments come soon after actor Russell Brand was demonetized by YouTube. The censorship occurred almost as soon as the as-yet unproven accusations of sexual assault were leveled against Brand.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand government agencies and Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on so-called hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
