President Joe Biden disturbingly pushed for increased online censorship in his farewell address delivered from the Oval Office on Thursday.
During the speech, Biden asserted that he is “concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial comp,” which he claimed could “pose real dangers for our country.” He compared this to the military-industrial complex and doubled down on his administration’s record of pressuring Big Tech to censor speech. The outgoing president even included an oblique jab at Meta for its new pro-free speech policy of “giving up on” its so-called third-party fact-checking program.
Related: MRC Founder & President Brent Bozell on Meta’s About Face: ‘Trust But Verify’
Biden tried to gin up fear over supposed online “misinformation and disinformation,” terms often used by leftist censors to justify silencing free speech with which they disagree.
“Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing,” Biden claimed, dramatically. “Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.”
Biden: “Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact checking. The truth is smothered by lies, told for power and for… pic.twitter.com/paxzb04Ov2
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 16, 2025
Biden then endorsed government action to interfere with social media policies, something his administration did repeatedly during his time in office. “We must hold the social platforms accountable to protect our children, our families and our very democracy from the abuse of power,” he asserted.
The outgoing president then mentioned artificial intelligence (AI), an area where his administration has been quick to propose regulation favorable to Google and dismissive of open source AI innovation. “Meanwhile, artificial intelligence is the most consequential technology of our time, perhaps of all time,” Biden droned. “Nothing offers more profound possibilities and risks for our economy, and our security, our society — for humanity.”
Biden then rightly called for “safeguards,” to protect America from the potential problems associated with AI. It bears noting that the left has used such euphemisms as “safety” and “protection” to refer to speech-restricting censorship in the past.
Flashback: Harris Calls for AI Censorship, Assumes Americans Too Dumb to Tell ‘Fact from Fiction’
“But unless safeguards are in place, AI could spawn new threats to our rights, our way of life, to our privacy, how we work, and how we protect our nation. We must make sure AI is safe and trustworthy and good for all humankind,” he went on. “In the age of AI, it’s more important than ever that the people must govern. And as the Land of Liberty, America — not China — must lead the world in the development of AI.”
MRC VP for Free Speech Dan Schneider challenged, “Biden actually spent 4 years trying to give Google a monopoly over AI, so long as it served the Biden government's interests[.] Just stop. I beg of you: please go away.”
Despite praising liberty, Biden again urged government action for online speech and other issues: “[I]n the years ahead, it’s going to be up to the president, the presidency, the Congress, the courts, the free press, and the American people to confront these powerful forces.”
The Biden administration indeed aimed to violate First Amendment rights. The landmark Murthy v. Missouri lawsuit, the Twitter Files, and public admissions from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that the Biden administration pressured and colluded with Big Tech to crush Americans’ free speech online.
Before You Go! Check Out MRC's Exclusive CensorTrack Database to See Who Has Been Censored
Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “misinformation” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
