Just a day after White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki admitted that the Biden administration is colluding with Facebook to censor “misinformation,” Psaki advocated for even more online censorship.
During a Friday press briefing, she advised social media companies to “create robust enforcement strategies that bridge their properties and provide transparency about rules.”
“You shouldn’t be banned from one platform and not others if you are for providing misinformation out there,” she said, encouraging tech companies to work together to ban Americans.
Psaki made the statement after she was asked how Silicon Valley tech titans like Facebook, Twitter, and Google could do more to stop the spread of COVID-19 “misinformation.”
Observers quickly cried foul, noting that much of what was labeled “misinformation” at the beginning of the pandemic, like Americans should wear masks to protect themselves from the virus, turned out to be true, or even mandated government policy just months later.
Journalist Glenn Greenwald noted that the possibility of human-to-human transmission of the virus, and the theory that virus leaked from a lab, were both at one point considered “misinformation.” The former turned out to be true, and the latter is currently being investigated.
If you trust the Biden WH to decree what is "misinformation," these claims have been deemed as such:
* COVID is transmitted human-to-human (Jan 2020)
* You should wear masks to protect against COVID (March 2020)
* It's possible COVID leaked from the Wuhan lab (all of 2020).
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 17, 2021
Others noted that censoring COVID-19 “misinformation” is the beginning of a slippery slope of censoring “misinformation” on other subjects.
“Removing information on vaccines will translate right over to anything they think is misinformation on gun violence, or climate, or healthcare or what defines a man or woman. Which is why they are doing this,” commentator Stephen Miller said.
Removing information on vaccines will translate right over to anything they think is misinformation on gun violence, or climate, or healthcare or what defines a man or woman. Which is why they are doing this.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) July 16, 2021
Even some government officials weighed in.
“Wait, I thought they were to be banned for violating terms of service. Aren’t terms of service different for different platforms? Her statement makes it abundantly clear they want people banned for simply disagreeing with the government’s pre-approved narrative,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY-04) said.
Wait, I thought they were to be banned for violating terms of service. Aren’t terms of service different for different platforms?
Her statement makes it abundantly clear they want people banned for simply disagreeing with the government’s pre-approved narrative. https://t.co/3Yjo9314cW
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) July 16, 2021
The unofficial directive comes during a raging debate over social media censorship, a practice that was uncommon until a few years ago.
Last week, former President Donald J. Trump announced a high-profile class action lawsuit against Facebook, Twitter, and Google. The 45th president is banned from Facebook and Twitter, along with Google-owned YouTube.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
