We previously discussed how Twitter’s growing censorship program has targeted former New York Times journalist and author Alex Berenson who is an outspoken critic of the government’s scientific claims and response to the pandemic. Berenson was previously suspended for merely expressing an opinion over the need for a “pause” on any federal mandates on Covid-19 as new research is studied. Twitter also suspended a journalist for posting CDC information that was deemed as critical of its own official line on vaccines. Now he is permanently suspended after his criticism the vaccine and possible side effects. Twitter has again showed that it will silence those who dare to disagree or even question its approved narrative and that of government.
On his Substack page, Berenson posted a brief message titled, “Goodbye Twitter.” He then posted the following as the tweet that was the final straw with Twitter.
“Don’t think of it as a vaccine,” he continued. “Think of it – at best – as a therapeutic with a limited window of efficacy and terrible side effect profile that must be dosed IN ADVANCE OF ILLNESS.”
That is an opinion that many share and one that can be debated. I do not agree with Berenson on the vaccine but I would like to hear his views and see the response to them. Like many, I do not want to simply read corporate or government approved viewpoints. Rather than respond to Berenson with reasoned debate, people demand that he be removed from platforms to prevent others from making up their own minds.
The most chilling aspect of this story is how many on left applaud such censorship. A new poll shows roughly half of the public supporting not just corporate censorship but government censorship of anything deemed “misinformation.”
As previously discussed, the poll reflects the move among Democratic politicians for years in calling for censorship. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey appeared at a key hearing in which he followed up his apology for censoring the Hunter Biden story by pledging more censorship. One of the most chilling moments came from Delaware Senator Chris Coons who demonstrated the very essence of the “slippery slope” danger.
Dorsey: Well, misleading information, as you are aware, is a large problem. It’s hard to define it completely and cohesively. We wanted to scope our approach to start to focus on the highest severity of harm. We focused on three areas, manipulated media, which you mentioned, civic integrity around the election, specifically in public health, specifically around COVID. We wanted to make sure that our resources that we have the greatest impact on where we believe the greatest severity of harm is going to be. Our policies are living documents. They will evolve. We will add to them, but we thought it important that we focus our energies and prioritize the work as much as we could.
Coons: Well, Mr. Dorsey, I’ll close with this. I cannot think of a greater harm than climate change, which is transforming literally our planet and causing harm to our entire world. I think we’re experiencing significant harm as we speak. I recognize the pandemic and misinformation about COVID-19, manipulated media also cause harm, but I’d urge you to reconsider that because helping to disseminate climate denialism, in my view, further facilitates and accelerates one of the greatest existential threats to our world. So thank you to both of our witnesses.
Instead of then raising concerns over censoring views and comments on the basis for such an amorphous category, Coons pressed for an expansion of the categories of censored material to prevent people from sharing any views that he considers “climate denialism”
There is, of course, a wide array of views that different people or different groups would declare “harmful.” Indeed, Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal seemed to take the opposite meaning from Twitter admitting that it was wrong to censor the Biden story. Blumenthal said that he was “concerned that both of your companies are, in fact, backsliding or retrenching, that you are failing to take action against dangerous disinformation.” Accordingly, he demanded an answer to this question:
“Will you commit to the same kind of robust content modification playbook in this coming election, including fact checking, labeling, reducing the spread of misinformation, and other steps, even for politicians in the runoff elections ahead?”
“Robust content modification” has a certain Orwellian feel to it. It is not content modification. It is censorship.
This call has now been picked up by academics and members of the media. Faculty and editors are actively supporting modern versions of book-burning with blacklists and bans for those with opposing political views. Columbia Journalism School Dean Steve Coll has denounced the “weaponization” of free speech, which appears to be the use of free speech by those on the right. So the dean of one of the premier journalism schools now supports censorship.
The rise of corporate censors has combined with a heavily pro-Biden media to create the fear of a de facto state media that controls information due to a shared ideology rather than state coercion.
Once again, I resolved these questions in favor of taking the vaccine at the earliest possible date, as did my family. However, voices like Berenson’s are important to our having an informed and vigorous debate. Most importantly, Berenson has never tried to silence others. He wants to have a debate so debate him or ignore him but do not silence him. These advocates of private and government censorship are only undermining faith in vaccines with their aggressive pursuit of anyone expressing doubts or challenging policies.
Dont use Twitter.
Or Google.
Or Facebook.
etc.
Use alt-social media, alt-media, and take the power away from Big Tech.
Aside the ad revenue aspect, if you are relying on that kind of thing for income, you dont really need them anyways.
IF you are taking heavy flak, it means you are over the target… In other words, Alex is RIGHT concerning these vaccines, masks, lockdowns etc…
During this mornings interview with Doc Gottlieb, Joe Kernan, specifically asked about the Israeli study and the expanded durability of, natural immunity. Since Doc Gottlieb agreed with much of what Berenson opined, the gangsters at CNBC , edited out those questions and Gottlieb’s responses. Hopefully , Berenson’s lawyers can get the complete transcript of this mornings interview. The video on the CNBC website edits those questions and answer out. Shame on CNBC.
Trusting the government is like drinking water in Mexico . Proven fact masks don’t work , proven fact shutting down small business did nothing but hurt people while big box stores never missed a beat .
Thank you Jonathan Turley, Alex Berenson and everyone at Substack for cultivating fair minded, incisive discussion of pertinent issues.
Soon the extreme may come where speech is regulated by busy body’s who are offended at the simplest of words or meanings. A morning greeting may sound like “Morning”, you can’t have “Good” that signifies a value.
The regulation of thought (free speech) is a sign there are tyrants at work. The Constitutions values and principles are slandered with such frequency and with such certainty it could only come from Conceited Tyrants, full of notion that their ideal utopia is better.
The oppression of debate on some social media platforms regarding open discourse is another step toward level pullers, both private and public, rewarding out who has rights.
This is very dangerous path forward now that the ponderous social media platforms are controlling who gets to speak. Applying rules of supposed truths regarding scientific matters, forwarded from authorities whose views are narrow and not opened for challenge. As any one citizen has to wonder why, to what end are they trying to control speech, what results are they hoping to obtain, and last what skin is it off their nose to allow any and all dialogue on any and all subjects? We’ve descended so far that our vacuous leadership (political and private) have stepped over the foul line in left field. These self identified leftist arbiters of truth should follow the rules of truth theory “that truth of judgment consists in the identity of its content with facts”.
Thank you Jonathan Turley, Alex Berenson, and Substack for fair minded discussion of the pertinent issues
We are under attack by the Communist Chinese Party and the elites of this country.
“Misinformation”. Everything written, spoken, or even implied that Leftists disagree. “Misinformation”.
Remove 230 protection. They are acting like publishers, not the telephone company.
We need a digital public square. If it’s legal to say in a park, it should be unhindered on that digital public square.
We need more of locals.com, and rumble.com.
Section 230 protects everyone but removing 230 will only encourage the left/big tech to put every competitor they do not control out of business. The solution is to build a rival ecosystem BUT nobody wants to do that – except maybe the GAB and MyPillow guys… “The ‘Repeal Section 230’ Narrative is Being Pushed by Silicon Valley, Don’t Fall For It.” https://news.gab.com/2020/10/16/the-repeal-section-230-narrative-is-being-pushed-by-silicon-valley/
Interesting point. Wouldn’t those platforms who offer a venue, without censoring like a publisher, still have 230 protection? I’ll look into this further.
Perhaps social media should be made to disclose on its site that it selectively censors right leaning content, or else be guilty of false advertising.
“Take” social media under eminent domain and operate them as state-regulated monopoly utilities.
They are already controlled by our CCP infected government.
Thank you; except they’re not.
As a state-regulated monopoly utility, social media would be required to allow absolute freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of opinion, freedom of belief, freedom of press, etc.
Better to BREAK THEM UP e.g. Facebook should be forced to separate from Whatsapp, Instagram etc…
Congress has no authority to “break up” any free enterprise or otherwise regulate anything other than money, commerce and land and naval Forces.
That you don’t like the severe constitutional limitations and restrictions on government, does not make them impotent and bereft of effect and force.
Americans enjoy freedom, free enterprise and immunity from governmental regulation thereof.
Please provide citation for your hypothesis.
Do you know which country you persist in?
Social media giants NEED to be reigned in. They are too big and powerful insomuch as they can and do unjustly affect “perceived” public opinion and elections with their selective censoring and their arbitrary control over what is and what is not misinformation/disinformation. They have the ability to steer public opinion, causes and elections in the direction they want through their multiplication. No private company can be allowed to have this kind of incredible unchecked power to sway the populace through unscrupulous tactics. When republicans control the white house and congress things need to get don
“…can be debated.”
Well, ok, Mr. Know-it-all, then please debate him. Tell us what he gets wrong; It’s obvious that you have opinions on every matter. What’s not so obvious is your comprehension of such.
Who are you babbling to?
And Chase Bank just sent a letter to General Flynn that they are closing his accounts and his credit cards because of his support of Trump. The left are the Nazis they have been afraid of. They just need to look in the mirror.
Kindly provide a hyperlink to prove your assertion. For the record, I’d bet a lot of money that you don’t have one.
Warren, Flynn and actually released a statement about this matter. There are myriad links you can find with a Google or DuckDuckGo search. I have not seen it in any of the major news networks yet, however. This is mostly being discussed on smaller sites. It’s an early story. You know what they say…trust but verify. More information should come out over the next few days.
https://citigist.com/politics/big-brother-jpmorgan-chase-terminates-account-of-general-michael-flynn-over-his-political-views/
https://twitter.com/SaraCarterDC/status/1432043722930368519
Karen S. You can give them links, but they still won’t believe anything that doesn’t come out the mouths of the propagandists they trust.
And they ALWAYS disappear when their BS is called out!
His own message from Telegram..that SNOPES is trying to see if true…and hasn’t found anything to say it isn’t.
Pay up!!!! https://www.snopes.com/tachyon/2021/08/E9_cTTCVUAEqrS1-1.jpg
“The third victim of the weekend purge was former Trump National Security Adviser and director of the Defense Intelligence Agency during the Obama administration Michael Flynn, who posted to his Telegram account a notice from Chase Bank notifying him of the cancellation his credit cards.
“After careful consideration, we decided to close your credit cards on September 18, 2021 because continuing the relationship creates possible reputational risk to our company,” read the terse update from the Cardmember Services division of Chase, the banking subsidiary of financial services behemoth JPMorgan Chase. ”
https://justthenews.com/accountability/cancel-culture/cancel-culture-chooses-news-filled-weekend-unleash-its-power
Lefties love censorship because they haven’t got the imagination to conceive a world where they aren’t in charge.
But the worm turns, it always does.
Then the Lefties will complain bitterly about censorship.
Instead of saying “I don’t agree” you might consider telling us maybe just one thing Berenson said that isn’t fact. I haven’t seen it.
Macroman is right. I’m not sure how you can “disagree” with facts which is the only guidepost that Berenson uses. I’m not familiar with anything he has said that is based on his opinion. That said, the larger issue here is censorship. And it’s wrong. I’d like to hear your views on how we can best end it.
Isn’t it great that FB’s and Twitter’s execs and censors are so knowledgeable about what the research will show about the efficacy and dangers of the vaccines? Who needs scientists and researchers when we have them?
Behold this sentence:
We previously discussed how Twitter’s growing censorship program has targeted former New York Times journalist and author Alex Berenson who is an outspoken critic of the government’s science and response to the pandemic.
Turley’s decision to use the phrase “[t]he government’s science” unmistakably demonstrates that he’s either wholly ignorant of the debate, or he’s willfully misleading his readers. There’s no such thing as “the government’s science.” It’s simply the science.
Indeed, the entire frame of this post shows that Turley is either ignorant or lying: it repeatedly suggests science is merely a matter of opinion.
I’d like to say I’m surprised, but Turley has never never been known a scrupulous adherence to intellectual consistency. This is the “legal expert” who claimed that Bill Clinton deserved to be impeached for lying in a civil suit, but Trump’s decision to illegally withhold aid to a vulnerable ally to pressure them to announce a bogus investigation into Joe Biden was somehow not an impeachable offense.
If you want to broadcast that you’re not a scientist and have never even heard of epistemology you can just straightforwardly say it next time.
You don’t think Joe Biden is corrupt as h*ll? You don’t think the president of the United States, and his entire family, who have been bought off by China, Ukraine, Russia and others, deserves to be investigated? Trump was 100% correct in what he did. Have you not seen the highly questionable decisions Joe Biden has been making *as president*? Have you not seen the blatant lies being told by Biden? By the media? By the Biden administration?
Geezus. Keep drinking propaganda Kool Aid.
Biden’s brother and son are allegedly being investigated for tax fraud, money laundering and other crimes. Fat chance any indictments will come. The fix is in, of course, because: Democrats.
Gibby,
I expect Turley is referring to the information being provided by our government agencies like the CDC. And it doesn’t mean Turley is ignorant or lying to note there are different scientific views on subjects, especially ones where the science is just being developed (as with COVID-19). One thing we have seen for certain with COVID is that the science is changing and evolving. The same as it is for the vaccines, a number of which are made using a brand new technology, never previously used to produce vaccines. If anything approaches ignorance, it is to blindly accept as absolute truth all of what our government agencies tell us. There are many credible scientists with multiple scientific views on the virus, the vaccine and yes, even climate change. The science in these areas continues to evolve and it is a mistake to view any of them as absolute truth, even (if not especially) the government. They have changed their views many times before and no doubt will again.
Twitter still allows the Taliban a voice !
…and the mullahs in Iran. And Hezbollah. And ANTIFA. And Hamas.
This only reinforces the obvious: You are ignorant, ill-informed and a tinfoil hat wearer if you read or believe that Twitter has any factual and verifiable information. What’s sad is that so many Americans are the obvious.
(music to tune of You’re a Jet all the way)
If you’re a Twit you’re a Twit.
You’re a Twit all the way!
From your first cigarette to your last dying day!
Twitters are smokers and dumber than hell.
They can’t read their postings and stink in their cells!