June has been labeled by the radical left as “Pride Month,” but Big Tech seemed most prideful for its censorship of free speech.
Google, Meta, X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, TikTok and Amazon all targeted free speech this past month and silenced users posting on a range of topics. Paying apparent homage to the radical left’s perverse labeling of June as “Pride Month,” multiple platforms cracked down on groups critical of the LGBTQ agenda. Big Tech also continued to engage in election interference, both in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. Furthermore, anti-free speech tech companies are still determined to suppress COVID-19 information online. And not to be outdone, Google labeled content critical of Islamic extremism as “hate speech.”
Below are the nine worst examples of Big Tech censorship in June recorded in MRC Free Speech America’s exclusive CensorTrack database.
1) X censored Trump War Room account during the CNN 2024 presidential debate. X users reported that @TrumpWarRoom, the account affiliated with the GOP nominee, was censored during the first 2024 presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. “Caution: This account is temporarily restricted. You're seeing this warning because there has been some unusual activity from this account,” read a screenshot of the X warning message. Amanda Head, host of the Furthermore Podcast, also posted on X, “18-19mins into this first presidential #debate former President Donald Trump’s very active 'war room' account is ‘temporarily restricted’ while Biden’s HQ account is up and running without issue.” The warning was quickly removed but X provided no explanation of the election-interfering censorship.
2) Google suppressed former president Donald Trump’s presidential campaign website prior to the June 2024 debate in Atlanta. An MRC study found that two days before the CNN presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, Google buried Trump’s campaign website in its search results. When MRC Free Speech America searched for each of the seven presidential candidates' names and the words “presidential race 2024,” Google buried Trump’s website and placed Biden as the top search result. In contrast, the search engine placed each of the other candidates in the top three results except for Trump and Constitution Party candidate Randall Terry, who like Trump is pro-life. When researchers conducted queries for “republican party presidential campaign websites” and “democratic party presidential campaign websites,” Google also put Trump’s campaign website at 39th result while Biden’s appeared at the top.
3) Google censored anti-globalist UK political party the month before major 2024 election. On June 22, Reform UK Party leader and political candidate Nigel Farage tweeted, “ELECTION INTERFERENCE ALERT Big Tech giant @Google has BLOCKED our Ad Accounts. They are trying to stop the Reform message.” Google restored the account later that day, according to Farage, who did not note if Google had provided an explanation. MRC Vice President for Free Speech Dan Schneider commented on the incident, saying, “Google's reach is truly global, including how it meddles in elections.”
4) Instagram engaged in Pride Month censorship against biological facts. Meta’s Instagram suspended U.K. charity Sex Matters on June 3 allegedly for violating “community guidelines, according to Reddux.” The charity – which argues for biologically-based policies about sex and “gender” – attempted to appeal the censorship but Instagram immediately rejected their request, reportedly telling Sex Matters that the account was “permanently disabled.”
5) Reddit banned the anti-child-transitioning LGBTQ group Gays Against Groomers (GAG). Gays Against Groomers announced the news in a June 25 X post. “BREAKING: The Gays Against Groomers subreddit, which we moderated, has just been banned by @Reddit,” the group wrote. “More big tech homophobia on display! There was no ‘hate’ whatsoever. Wanting to protect children from being sexualized and butchered is not hate speech.” The group included a screenshot from Reddit that read, “r/GaysAgainstGroomers has been banned from Reddit[.] This community was banned for violating Reddit’s rule against promoting hate.” GAG noted that has been banned on 15 platforms and that Reddit allows subreddits glorifying incest and rape.
6) TikTok went after a women’s clothing brand for catering to women. The communist Chinese government-tied TikTok banned women’s clothing brand XX-XY Athletics’ advertising account after the clothing company released an ad arguing that women shouldn’t have to compete against biological males. The clothing brand also urged female athletes to take a stand in the ad. “If you know that it isn't fair or safe to allow males to compete in girls' sports because it's, well, obvious,” the narrator said, “Stand up … You're not a bigot.” TikTok declared the ad “offensive" and notified XX-XY that the brand would be “permanently suspended” from advertising on the platform. “Our review indicates that your advertising content may violate TikTok's advertising policies by featuring offensive content,” TikTok's notice read. XX-XY's CEO Jennifer Sey, in an exclusive interview with MRC Free Speech America, stated, “TikTok is denying my brand the ability to reach the close to 50% of people under the age of 30 who spend time on TikTok. They have thrown up a significant barrier to reaching the population of women under 30, a primary target for us. But, I’m not giving up.”
7) Google banned PragerU from the App Store for a documentary on Islamic extremism. Google reportedly accused PragerU of “hate speech” on June 7 for its recent documentary warning about radical Islam. “After a recent review, we found that your app PragerU [redacted] is not compliant with one or more of our Developer Program Policies,” screenshots of Google’s message asserted. “Your app contains content related to the following violations: Content or speech asserting that a protected group is inhuman, inferior or worthy of being hated,” the notice added, according to a screenshot. The documentary, titled “Dear Infidels,” provided an opportunity for victims of radical Islam to share their stories.
8) Amazon enforced the left’s preferred narrative on COVID-19. Dr. Steven Greer announced in a blog that Amazon had removed his book “Tony's Virus,” from Amazon Marketplace three whole years after the book was first published. The book critiqued former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci and his Covid policies. Greer quoted Amazon’s email in his blog: “During a review, we found your book(s) contain content (text and/or images) that’s widely available on the web, which is considered 'disappointing content' for our customers. We do not allow content that disappoints our customers or creates a poor shopping experience. As a result, we have removed the books from sale on Amazon.” Greer disputed Amazon’s description.
9) Google-owned YouTube also enforced the left’s preferred narrative on COVID-19. YouTube suspended and issued a strike against Matt Christiansen for posting a video link discussing a new study. The study argued that the rise of excess deaths in recent years could be caused by COVID-19 vaccines. Matt's original video remains on the platform but YouTube added a COVID-19 vaccine disclaimer label. The platform cited its policy on “medical misinformation.” Christiansen said he was merely referencing peer-reviewed scientific studies. “YouTube's gonna call me anti-science when we've got peer-reviewed scientific journal publication that they say is unspeakable on their platform,” he said on his podcast.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency and an 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.
