While children across America were going back to school, users across Big Tech platforms found themselves going back to digital jail for exercising their free speech online.
Despite Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitting to previous censorship (election interference really), his platforms are still censoring election-related information. In addition to censoring election-related information, Meta platforms make up three of the top five worst censorship cases for the month of August. Facebook censored content about the new Reagan movie, and Instagram censored information about the harmful nature of the transgender ideology. Google-owned YouTube, for its part, tried to suppress information about the UK’s crackdown on free speech, while X (formerly Twitter) censored an anti-grooming group’s comments on the drag queens at the Olympics.
Below are the worst examples of censorship from August 2024 as recorded in MRC’s unique CensorTrack database.
Meta-owned Facebook suppresses content about a biographical film on Republican President Ronald Reagan. Actor Dennis Quaid and the marketers for the film Reagan accused Facebook of suppressing advertising and promotion before the film was released Aug. 30. Quaid, who plays Reagan in the movie, wrote in an email to Newsweek, “Facebook is once again censoring the free flow of ideas, deciding what's best for us to see and hear; only this time it's throttling advertising and promotion for my movie about Ronald Reagan.” The film’s digital marketing director Eric McClellan also sent a letter to Zuckerberg reportedly citing “numerous problems” when trying to advertise Reagan on the Meta-owned platform. According to McClellan, the most “egregious” example of censorship was when Facebook prevented a post showing Quaid, the title of the film and a Reagan quote from being displayed. The platform also reportedly issued temporary suspensions to the movie’s Facebook page over clips of Quaid discussing the movie, asserting the content “mentions politicians or is about sensitive issues that could influence public opinion, how people vote and may impact the outcome of an election or pending legislation.”
Facebook targets election-related information as 2024 Election Day approaches. Judicial Watch posted on Facebook, “BREAKING: Judicial Watch received an Excel spreadsheet of names and other data from the District of Columbia Board of Elections revealing that 113 non-citizens voted in the June '2024 Presidential Primary.’” The post added a quote from Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton and included an article link: “Judicial Watch: 113 Noncitizens Voted in DC Presidential Primary.” Facebook imposed a fact-check label claiming, “Missing context. Independent fact-checkers say this information could mislead people.” The label linked to a LeadStories article: “Fact Check: 113 Non-Citizens Did NOT Vote For President In DC June ‘2024 Presidential Primary.’” Users trying to share the post were required to click through yet another warning label claiming the post was “missing context,” and even after selecting “share anyway” the fact check appeared on the shared post.
YouTube censors conservative host Glenn Beck for interviewing journalist about illegal immigration. Blaze Media founder and nationally syndicated radio talk show host Glenn Beck interviewed independent journalist Tommy Robinson about the riots in the U.K., which Robinson said he has been accused of inciting. In the video, Robinson explained to Beck that his goal had been “peaceful protest, not violence” and that he is “terrified” of being accused of incitement. U.K. authorities are arresting individuals accused of inciting violence through online free speech. YouTube imposed a warning label on the interview that users must click through in order to view the video. The label asserts that the content “has been identified by the YouTube community as inappropriate or offensive to some audiences.” Google-owned YouTube further turned off comments and sharing for Beck’s interview, and prevented it from being suggested to other users. Below the video, YouTube wrote, “Certain features have been disabled for this video[.]” It continued, “In response to user reports, we have disabled some features, such as comments, sharing, and suggested videos, because this video contains content that may be inappropriate or offensive to some audiences.”
Meta’s Instagram targets prominent detransitioner Chloe Cole. Cole, a detransition activist attempting to protect children from the left’s transgender ideology, shared a screenshot on her X account. The post shows an Instagram notice, which read: ”Take action or lose access to chooocole.” The notice further added that the “account has been suspended” because the “account, or activity on it, doesn't follow our Community Guidelines.” Instagram notified Cole that she could appeal the decision until Feb. 1, 2025, but “[i]f you don't take action, your account will be permanently disabled.” MRC Free Speech America verified that Cole's Instagram page was unavailable. Cole noted later that same day that Instagram restored her account, which MRC was also able to verify.
X censors anti-child grooming organization for calling out drag queens in Olympic ceremony. Gays Against Groomers (GAG) posted about the Olympics featuring drag queens during the opening ceremony, “TRAs are claiming that the Olympics strip show was done ‘to promote positive LGBTQIA+ representation on a global scale.’ We disagree.” GAG included an image of the Olympic scene which apparently mocked the Last Supper by replacing the biblical figures with LGBTQ performers, captioning it, “GROOMERS” with the Olympics logo inserted as the “OO.” GAG subsequently shared screenshots showing how X imposed a “Visibility Limited” warning on its original post. The X label asserted “this Post may violate X's rules against Hateful Conduct.” GAG showed in another post that it had appealed the censorship, which X denied. GAG describes itself as “a nonprofit of gays, lesbians and others in the community against the sexualization, indoctrination and medicalization of children under the guise of LGBTQIA+,’” and it has been repeatedly censored by multiple online platforms, including Reddit, Instagram and Google.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment and provide an equal platform for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using MRC Free Speech America’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
