Columns

Zuckerberg’s Censorship Admission is More Contrived than Contrite

Below is my column in Fox.com on the admission of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg that Facebook yielded to pressure of the Biden Administration to censor citizens. The admission, however, appears more contrived than contrite.

Here is the column:

“I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it.” Those words from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg came this week with an admission in a letter that his company, Facebook, did yield to pressure from the Biden-Harris administration to censor American citizens on a wide array of subjects.

For those of us who have criticized Facebook for years for its role in the massive censorship system, Zuckerberg’s belated contrition was more insulting than inspiring. It had all of the genuine regret of a stalker found hiding under the bed of a victim.

Zuckerberg’s sudden regret only came after his company fought for years to conceal the evidence of its work with the government to censor opposing views. Zuckerberg was finally compelled to release the documents by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and the House Judiciary Committee.

Now forced to admit what many of us have long alleged, Zuckerberg is really, really sorry.

In my book “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I discuss Facebook’s record at length as a critical player in the anti-free speech alliance of government, corporate, academic, and media forces.

In prior testimony before the House Judiciary Committee and other congressional committees, I noted that Zuckerberg continued to refuse to release this information after Elon Musk exposed this system in his release of the “Twitter Files.”

Zuckerberg stayed silent as Musk was viciously attacked by anti-free speech figures in Congress and the media. He was fully aware of his own company’s similar conduct but stayed silent.

When the White House and President Joe Biden repeatedly claimed that the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation, Facebook continued to withhold evidence that they too were pressured to suppress the story before the election.

When the censorship system was recently put before the Supreme Court in Murthy v. Missouri, the justices asked about evidence of coordination and pressure from the government. In Murthy, states successfully showed lower courts that there was coercion from the government in securing an injunction. The Biden administration denied such pressure and the Court rejected the standing of plaintiffs, blocked an order to stop the censorship, and sent the case back down to the lower court.

Zuckerberg still remained silent.

But Facebook was not silent when it came to censorship, or “content moderation” as the company prefers to call it. While Zuckerberg now expresses “regret” at not speaking out sooner, his company previously sought to sell Americans on censorship.

In 2021, I wrote about the Facebook commercial campaign in which the company attempted to rally young people to embrace censorship.

The commercials show people like “Joshan” who says that he “grew up with the internet.” Joshan mocks how much computers have changed and then objects how privacy and censorship has not evolved as much as our technology. As Joshan calls for “the blending of the real world and the internet world,” content moderation is presented as part of this not-so-brave new world.

Joshan and his equally eager colleagues Chava and Adam were presented by Facebook as the shiny happy faces of young people longing to be content modified.  They were all born in 1996 — the sweet spot for censors who saw young people as allies to reduce free speech.

For years, young people have been taught that free speech is harmful and triggering. We are raising a generation of speech-phobics and Zuckerberg and Facebook wanted to tap into that generation to get people to stop fearing the censor and love “content modification.”  It was time, as Joshan and his friends told us, to “change” with our computers.

Now, Zuckerberg and Meta want people to know that they were “pressured” to censor and really regret their role in silencing opposing voices.

It is the feigned regret that comes with forced exposure.

The Facebook files now put the lie to past claims of the Biden administration and many Democrats in Congress. For years, members attacked some of us who testified that we had no evidence of coordination or pressure from the government. At the same time, they opposed any effort to investigate and release such evidence.

The evidence is now undeniable.

The Biden administration has long demanded the removal of opposing views on a wide array of subjects. Democrats in Congress pushed Zuckerberg to expand the scope of censorship to include areas like climate change denial.

Jen Easterly, who heads the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, is an example of the chilling scope of this effort.  Her agency was created to work on our critical infrastructure, but Easterly declared that the mandate would now include policing “our cognitive infrastructure.” That includes combating “malinformation,” or information “based on fact, but used out of context to mislead, harm, or manipulate.”

Consider that for a second: true facts are censorable if the government views them as misleading.

As I write in my book, President Joe Biden is arguably the most anti-free speech president since John Adams. His administration helped create a censorship system that was described by one federal judge as “Orwellian.” Vice President Kamala Harris has been entirely supportive of that effort.

In 1800, Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams in the only election where free speech was one of the principal campaign issues. It should be so again. Harris should have to take ownership of the censorship system maintained by the administration.

In my book, I propose a federal law that would bar the government from using any federal funds to support efforts to censor, blacklist, or suppress individuals or groups. It would take the government out of the censorship business. Harris should be asked if she would oppose such a law and dismantle the current censorship apparatus in the federal government.

Democracy is not on the ballot in 2024, as many have claimed, but free speech is.

Jonathan Turley is a Fox News Media contributor and the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. He is the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage” (Simon & Schuster, June 18, 2024).

345 thoughts on “Zuckerberg’s Censorship Admission is More Contrived than Contrite”

  3. The whopper pushed out by the Biden campaign and their ex-CIA buddies about Hunter’s laptop being “Russian hacking” ….

    Post-election, 11% of voters said they would have voted differently had the truth been available at the time.

    Biden, Blinken and Morrell consider this whopper “free speech” on their part. In his book “The Indispensable Right”, JT ignores this ugly contradiction. He argues that deliberate fabrications toward political ends are protected by 1A, because they are “forms of political speech”.

    This can’t possibly be the final word. The book is well written and makes its arguments cogently, but leaves this crucial question dangling in ambivalence. “The consent of the governed” is put into question if that consent can be obtained through trickery and deceit. Most Americans find that “expanded coverage” of 1A vile and repugnant.

    It was used successfully to steer the result of a Presidential election. And zero has been done to prevent more of the same.

    1. Boo hoo, the Trumptards keep trying to equate Hunter’s laptop with a Trump’s illegal attempt, as POTUS, to steal an election.

      1. Trumptards?…I’m completely non-partisan. I’m trying to get you to think about being duped to get your vote, and whether the campaign duping you is exercising “free speech”. Agree or disagree?

        Evade the question by oppo-branding and insulting?

        1. “Evade the question by oppo-branding and insulting?” You mean the way Trump does 100 times a day?

      2. * Texas apparently took it upon themselves to clean up voter registration and found one million (1,000,000) throw out by deceased, left State, non-citizens. That quite a few as elections are won by as few as ten thousand, (10, 000) votes. Have all States done that? Absurdity…

        1. The claim of “one million” voters being removed is a farcical exaggeration. In 2020, Texas officials identified several thousand voter registrations that were potentially inaccurate due to reasons like death or change of address.

    3. * did you know the executive branch isn’t congress nor the protectors of the constitution as in SCOTUS?

  4. Jonathan: In other news DJT on Monday staged another campaign event–this time at Arlington National Cemetery. The DJT campaign claimed it wanted to “honor” the 13 service members killed during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. DJT is reeling from claims he does not support the military by refusing to attend ceremonies in France honoring servicemen who died in WWII, his constant attacks on veterans like John McCain, Gens. Mark Milley and John Kelly who he has falsely claimed are “disloyal”. The campaign event at Arlington was clearly designed to try defuse those criticisms. that attempt failed miserably.

    So what happened on Monday? Federal law prohibits political campaign events in Arlington. A cemetery official tried to prevent DJT campaign staffers from filming and photographing in the area where the Afghan servicemen are buried. According to Arlington officials the DJT staffers “verbally abused and pushed the official aside”. A DJT spokesman falsely claimed in a statement that the Arlington official was “clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block members of the President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony”.

    Staging a campaign event at Arlington and pushing aside an official is not exactly a “solemn ceremony” and you don’t “honor” the fallen by assaulting an Arlington official. But DJT is desperate to reclaim the spotlight and he is willing to violate federal law (once again) to do that!

    1. Trump campaign pushes back against NPR report about Arlington National Cemetery altercation
      Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign’s spokesman, said about the report: “The fact is that a private photographer was permitted on the premises and for whatever reason an unnamed individual, clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block members of President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony. “We are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made.”
      https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/trump-campaign-pushes-back-against-npr-report-about-arlington-national

      1. Upstate, that is how the left attacks. The MSN shows an erroneous report, where the data hasn’t yet been verified or wholly examined. Then, stupid fools like Dennis take this erroneous information to make a point. Invariably, those with intelligence realize that people like Dennis are untrustworthy.

        1. S. Meyer,
          Well said.
          I generally just scroll past the lies Dennis posts, but I saw Arlington National Cemetery and had to correct him.
          And the real question is, not only was Biden’s withdraw from Afghanistan a disaster, as internal emails show, but where was both Biden and Harris on the third anniversary of their disaster where thirteen died, some fifty wounded? Why did it take a former president, not the current sitting one or his VP, to participate in that ceremony? Perhaps it was the families of those who died did not want them there, but they did want Trump? Says a lot about what the think of Biden and Harris’s character.

      2. Upstatefarmer confirms Dennis McIntyre’s report. Of course we are supposed to trust a Trump campaign staffer over an official at Arlington. We know Trump loves, LOVES photo opportunities to “show” he cares. Trump is making things worse for himself. Remember the photo op in front of the burned out church and holding a bible upside down? This seems to be a similar attempt in poor taste.

        2. “Upstatefarmer confirms Dennis McIntyre’s report.”

          Reading comprehension problems. Low IQ.

        3. Trump actually stood behind headstones of some of the fallen, smiling and giving a thumbs up for his photographers and promptly posted the photos. He has NO decency whatsoever. HE bears responsibility for the withdrawal from Afghanistan because HE turned loose 5,000 Taliban; HE drew down our troops from 14,000 to 2,500; HE failed to arrange for an air or land base; HE failed to get people out before turning the country over to the Taliban and not even involving our Afghan allies in the talks with Taliban. HE is the one who calls members of our military “suckers and losers”. HE is a draft-dodger. Arlington National Cemetery is hallowed ground–Trump sees it as a photo-op that he can use to mislead people into believing that somehow Joe Biden bears all of the responsibility for the deaths of servicemembers in Afghanistan. Trump shouldn’t be allowed to even step foot on the property. I have family buried there. They weren’t “suckers or losers”.

          1. “I have family buried there. They weren’t ‘suckers or losers.'”
            Raises the question of how genetically close you must not be to them, doesn’t it.
            p.s. punctuation goes inside quotation marks, you lawyer-brief writer, you.

            2. Tom: that’s it–that’s all you have-criticizing the placement of a period in a sentence? So, you must agree that Arlington is hallowed ground and that a draft-dodging coward like Trump who calls service members “suckers and losers” doesn’t belong there, and that it’s wrong to use the burial sites of our fallen for political purposes.

              1. Not me again, dum dum.

                You will know me. I address you by your proper name, Gigenius.

          2. Gigi: Look carefully before you speak.
            Did you notice in the photo that the family members had their thumbs up too???
            I’m sure the photographer did not direct them to do so.
            What is important is how the family members perceived his visit/words/thumbs up,– not what daily commenters on this site here,- who get their info from any anti-Trump media, try to portray it, n’est ce pas?
            What a big nothingburger you waste your time on.

            1. –AND the photo was likely taken by a family member or friend or someone who was asked to take the picture of them “with the President.” Has nothing to do with campaign photos.

            2. lin: were you there? Do you know anything about how this photo came to be? How can you be “sure” that Trump’s photographer didn’t tell them to give the “thumbs up”? You say that complaining about a draft-dodging, insurrection fomenting, narcissistic liar who calls service members “suckers and losers” and uses the hallowed ground of Arlington National Cemetery as a political photo-op is a “nothingburger”? It’s the same as cheating, lying Trump posing in front of that Episcopalian church, holding a Bible. It’s not an issue of pro or anti-Trump media at all. It is not subject to dispute that Arlington National Cemetery is the resting place of our American heroes. It is not subject to dispute that political activity is forbidden there. Trump is a convicted criminal who dodged the draft by lying about nonexistent bone spurs and who started an insurrection when he lost the election and couldn’t bully or lie his way to stay in power. He belongs in a federal prison–not in the final resting place of our national heroes that he has called “suckers and losers”. How someone like him has the gall to even consider entering a place like Arlington, much less using it to portray himself as worthy of being the US President, especially considering that his utter incomptence helped cause the deaths of the Afghanistan soldiers who were killed by the Taliban he turned loose, amazes me. But then, he will say or do anything to get power, and his loyal followers will believe his lies.

              1. Oh gigi, just stop. Were YOU there to establish all of Trump’s intents, motives, and purposes, which you constantly present as fact? I have seen comments here about TDS and Trump living in peoples’ minds, but you pretend to live in HIS mind.
                The difference between you and me is that I said, “I’m sure.” I did not state this as fact. Do you get it, gigi?
                Just stop this redundant nonsense, OK? We’ve heard it from you already, about 400x +/- thanks anyway.

              2. Gigenius lied and said she had relatives in Arlington.

                She also lied and said she was an attorney.

                She also lied and said she was a nurse.

                LIAR

              1. Neither have the 51 Spies Who Brazenly Lied to protect Biden. Not one of them has backed off of their proven lies. Because they are professional liars who lie – with impunity.

            2. How is it debunked. Cuz Trump said? The Atlantic quoted sources within the Trump administration. Trump already denigrated McCain’s POW experience. Trump has it in him to despicably insult people like that. So… you’re wrong.

              1. Show us the video big mouth. Just because you want to believe it doesnt make it true.

                Would you like to apologize again for Biden and Walz, the valor thieves?

              2. Bzzzt. I’m right.
                Yes, it was debunked. It is a lie.
                Yes, because Trump said so….
                And yes, it was debunked by others who confirmed that it was yet another Dem/media hoax.
                As for “quoted sources” in the Atlantic…
                Who owns The Atlantic?
                Enough said.

                As for what Trump said about McCain, look up where that first came from. It wasn’t Trump.

          4. “Regardless of how you feel about @realdonaldtrump, it doesn’t matter. He’s still the one that showed up today at Arlington National Cemetery and took the time to partake in a ceremonious memorial commemorating the 13 Americans murdered that day in Kabul, Afghanistan. He is still the only one that showed up to take the time and talk with those families and friends there, myself included.” – Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews.

            1. Unfortunately, Trump couldn’t show up to Vietnam. Funny how his bone spurs had healed by the time he was partying with prostitutes at Studio 54.

              2. Was Biden there? No. He claimed “asthma.” Then brags about being a great football player in HS. LOL. Serial liar strikes again.
                Then Joe Biden pulled strings to get druggie Hunter accepted into the military so he would become THEIR problem.
                That lasted less than 30 days before he got expelled for drugs.
                Once a loser, always a loser.
                Why such a debauched, druggie loser, criminal? Just ask him: who’s your daddy, Hunter?
                Joe is a scumbag human, and even more of a scumbag father.
                Look at his screwed up family for evidence.
                Hunter even called step mom Jill, “an entitled c*nt”
                Enough said.

                Trump, on the other hand, has five well-adjusted, successful adult children, who all love him, are all close, loving and supportive family, in spite of coming from 3 different marriages. It’s quite impressive how well all of Trump’s children have turned out, actually.
                None of them are debauched, drunks, druggies, hooker-using, child-abusing, addicts banging their dead brother’s widow running a family racketeering crime syndicate.

          6. Gigi says: “HE bears responsibility for the withdrawal from Afghanistan because HE…” blah blah blah.

            No, Gigi. BIDEN bears full responsibility for the withdrawal from Afghanistan and HOW HE mishandled it.
            Because HE was president AT THE TIME and HE chose to move the date to withdraw so he could bizarrely have it on 9-11. And KAMALA was the “last person in the room” when BIDEN made all the FINAL DECISIONS about the withdrawal. And BIDEN gave up Bagram to the Chinese Communists because HE and his family of greedy criminals took tens of MILLIONS in bribes from the CCP.

            THAT is what happened. BIDEN BEARS FULL RESPONSIBILITY. The Buck Stops with Biden and Harris.

            1. Biden was stuck with the bad deal Trump cut with the Talliban. Period. Could Biden re-deplpy the 14,000 troops Trump agreed to remove? Could Biden re-arrest the 5,000 Taliban Trump turned loose? Could Biden establish an air or land base? WHY didn’t Trump pull out the people who needed to leave BEFORE he turned loose the Taliban? Biden’s hands were tied.

              1. “Biden was stuck with the bad deal Trump cut with the Talliban.”

                He was not. Biden ripped up every other deal Trump made and did exactly what Biden’s regime wanted. Afghanistan debacle is 100% on Biden and Harris.

                It is a disgrace that Biden refuses to own his failures. But that is who Biden is: a lying scumbag.

              2. Could Biden establish an air or land base?

                LMAO His generals told Biden to keep enough to hold Bagram.

                You’re an idiot.

              3. Biden didn’t need the 14,000 troops
                Biden didn’t need to rearrest 5,000 Taliban

                Trump managed the Taliban with a simple photograph.

                “Could Biden establish an air or land base? “

                Biden had Bagram airbase and that along with common sense is all he needed. Any conservative on this blog could have handled the situation reasonably. Trump set out the method but Biden screwed up like he does with everything he touches.

        4. We know that Georg loves, LOVES comment opportunities to “show” he is relevant or even competently knowledgeable on a subject.

          1. The other day, I caught “George” cutting and pasting word for word from the Google AI Summary. Word for word.

        5. More fake news. No, Trump did not hold a bible upside down in front of the church set on fire by Democrat Domestic Terrorists.

          ——

          As for the real story re the Abbey Gate disaster CAUSED by Biden’s disgraceful incompetence:

          “Incredible to see libs rage at Trump after he honored the 13 fallen service members (at their family members’ request/gratefulness) to avoid addressing the fact that Biden and Harris have actually insulted them and their families by barely acknowledging their existence.”

        6. I wanna live in an America where the media is madder at the President who got 13 service members killed than the President who shows up to mourn them. @jimmyfailla

    2. That never happened. Another lie. All the media propagandists do, is lie.
      Trump was asked to be there and got permission to film.

      Btw, isn’t that the duty of a PRESIDENT, to honor our dead soldiers? Where’s Biden? MIA. He was last seen lounging on a beach with not a care in the world.

      Trump showed up, at the request of their families, to HONOR the sacrifice of the Abbey Gate soldiers, whose names neither Biden nor Harris has ever said out loud, nor acknowledged publicly. For shame. Biden’s indifference is reprehensible. Harris is even worse.

      1. “ Trump was asked to be there and got permission to film.”

        Evidence? Who exactly gave him permission?

          1. They had no authority to do that. In Section 60 it’s against federal law to take pictures for campaigning purposes. Trump was obviously looking for a photo op for his campaign.

            1. which media page did you lift that from, georgie? It’s not like we believe you just had that stored in your head. Please cite your source, as you demand of others.

            2. “Trump was obviously looking for a photo op for his campaign.”

              I’m sure we’ll see the upcoming indictment then, right Perry Mason?

              Bwahahahahahahaha you’re an idiot.

            4. Where is the indictment? Sounds like you are expecting one…

              Bwahahahahahahahaha

              Stooge

      2. Tom: so, if it’s the “duty” of a president to honor our military dead, why aren’t you offended by Trump calling them “suckers and losers”, telling General Milley and General Kelly that he didn’t want amputees or injured military members in his presence because of the optics, and refusing to go to the cemetery in France because the drizzle would cause his pompadour to flop? NAME the FAMILIES who “requested” Trump to show up and cite their authority to override the rule that politicking is not allowed at Arlington. And, if this is just some sh*t you got from MAGA media, admit it.

        1. Why are you offended by being lied to like you are an idiot? Trump never called them suckers and losers. That is a debunked lie.

          The real question is: WHY haven’t Biden or Harris paid proper respects or acknowledged by name, publicly, the 13 soldiers killed DUE TO THEIR INCOMPETENCE?

          1. No, The real question is, what does Gigi look like? since every one of her comments takes a swing at Trump’s personal appearance, “big, fat, bald, slob, pompadour, orange pig,” etc. I’d like to betcha Gigi ain’t no looker, hiding behind her fake avatar. Projection much?

            1. Gigenius is a typical libtard, diabetic, slovenly, dissheveled, low IQ skank. Or a dude.

          2. You’re so emotional about nothing. Trump’s going to lose because most of America hates a-holes. They’re not voting for Kamala as much as they’re voting against Trump. He’ll need to lube his bunghole where he’s headed after it’s proved that he stole military secrets and tried to overturn an election.

        2. Where is President Biden? He’s been vacationing for weeks now. Chaos all over the Middle East. The world on the brink of WW3. The alleged “president” is MIA.

          ———
          “By my rough calculation, President Joe Biden has been on vacation for 27 of the 36 days (75%) since he dropped out of the 2024 race on July 21.

          Air Force 1 has whisked him and his family between Rehoboth Beach, Camp David and the Santa Barbara estate of billionaire donor Joe Kiani.

          Before that, he already had taken nine days vacation at Rehoboth and Wilmington, DE, after the June 27 debate. Clearly, he’s checked out.

          If the commander-in-chief can’t be bothered – or is incapable of – doing his job for the next five months, then he should resign.” @mirandadevine

          ———
          And the reason Dems do not want an incapacitated, demented, senile Biden to resign, is because when Harris moves into the top spot, she will have to defend 4 years of BIDEN-HARRIS disasters – which are indefensible — even with the propaganda media doing its best to spin on her behalf.

          ———
          “Your reminder that Joe Biden has no business being president right now.

          But they keep him there because that allows Kamala Harris to run away from some of his policies and record, all while, avoiding any responsibility because most of the media allows her to.” @joeconcha

        3. Not me again, Gigenius, but since you ran that fat mouth again…

          We have been all over this you imbecile, multiple times.

          If you are so smart, why do you keep asking me that ignorant question?

          I’ve never heard Trump do anything but espouse his love and appreciation for the military, and neither have you. And his ACTIONS showed that he does. Link to the video of Trump disparaging the military or admit you made it up. Video of Trump, not your gossip column.

          The fact you choose to believe a gossip column in the Atlantic has no bearing on reality. Get a grip on yourself.

          Yet you apologize for the valor thiefs Biden and Walz, and lie yourself about connections to Arlington. Just like you lied about being an attorney.

          Pathetic LIAR

        4. “I have witnessed over 75 wreath laying ceremonies performed by politicians and conducted 524 funerals in this cemetery during the time I served in the Presidential Honor Guard for three years.

          What I got to witness yesterday was the most respectful and solemn ceremony I have seen.

          There were no speeches, no angles, no weird photo ops just our elected officials and the 45th President respectfully and solemnly honoring the fallen and their families.”

          https://instagram.com/p/C_L-OtVvFer/?igsh=dHZtamkwOWt2ODg5

          2. I’m sure Trump’s campaign managers implored him not to open his insolent mouth.

        5. *When people ask about serial liars like Biden, and Marxists like Harris, and their propaganda media whores:

          “How can they lie like this?”

          Remember, they’re fighting a revolution. Anything and everything is permissible as long as it’s for the revolution.

          That’s how these people sleep at night.”

    3. Biden Pentagon spokesman insisted Afghan withdrawal wasn’t chaotic but his emails say otherwise
      “Defense Department internal memos made public three years after crisis undermine the official narrative of the Afghanistan withdrawal, showing the Pentagon was acutely aware of a chaotic and deteriorating situation.”

    6. “U.S. Army veteran Lucas O’Hara, who was at Arlington Cemetery on Monday honoring those killed at Abbey Gate on the third anniversary of the bombing in Afghanistan.” —>

      “I have witnessed over 75 wreath laying ceremonies performed by politicians and conducted 524 funerals in this cemetery during the time I served in the Presidential Honor Guard for three years.

      What I got to witness yesterday was the most respectful and solemn ceremony I have seen.

      There were no speeches, no angles, no weird photo ops just our elected officials and the 45th President respectfully and solemnly honoring the fallen and their families.”

      https://instagram.com/p/C_L-OtVvFer/?igsh=dHZtamkwOWt2ODg5

      ———–
      “Regardless of how you feel about @realdonaldtrump, it doesn’t matter. He’s still the one that showed up today at Arlington National Cemetery and took the time to partake in a ceremonious memorial commemorating the 13 Americans murdered that day in Kabul, Afghanistan. He is still the only one that showed up to take the time and talk with those families and friends there, myself included.” – Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews.

      ———-
      The real “new” story is: where the hell are Biden and Harris?

    7. Instead of speading Democrat propaganda, the fake news media should be asking: Where’s Biden? Why haven’t Biden or Harris paid proper respects or acknowledged by name, publicly, the 13 soldiers killed DUE TO THEIR INCOMPETENCE?

    8. Dennis is spreading FAKE NEWS DISINFORMATION. Again.
      ——————————————————————–
      “The families that lost their loved ones during the withdrawal of American troops in Kabul, Afghanistan released a statement, thanking President Trump for being at Arlington National Cemetery with them:

      “We would like to express our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to President Donald J. Trump for his presence at the recent Section 60 gathering, honoring our children and their fallen brothers and sisters. On the three-year anniversary of the Abbey Gate b*mbing, the President and his team conducted themselves with nothing but the utmost respect and dignity for all of our service members, especially our beloved children…”

      This is in response to the fake news NPR story blasting President Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery. Shame on you NPR !”

    9. FACTS for DENNIS:

      “Kamala Harris got a bunch of Americans killed in Afghanistan, droned an aid worker and his family to distract from the debacle, lied about it, tried to blame Trump for it, and is now attacking Trump for mourning with the families of the people she got killed. Evil doesn’t begin to describe Harris and the Democrat media running her campaign.” @seanmdav

    10. “I wanna live in an America where the media is madder at the President who got 13 service members killed than the President who shows up to mourn them.” @jimmyfailla

    11. The “event at Arlington [followed by a bunch of predictable lies] . . .”

      At least Trump was there.

      Harris and Biden? — MIA.

  5. The Democrats have been talking about repealing the law that keeps social media from being sued for something that someone said on one of the sights. Zuckerberg knows that if he can be sued for allowing a post on his sight that the Federal government does not agree with that it will be the end of Meta because only one point of view will be allowed. The threat of bankruptcy and incarceration is the gun to his head that was used to make him comply. When it comes to controlling what you can see and hear the Democrats are as serious as a heart attack. We should not be surprised that if Kamala wins Schumer will say, “Zuckerberg you will reap the whirlwind.” If they will encourage the murder of a Supreme Court Justice or a man running for President what makes you think that they won’t call for Zuckerberg’s head on a stake. Zuckerberg says that he should have pushed back harder. The reason he didn’t is because he was afraid of what might happen if he pushed back. Over the top you might say? Look to France where free speech has been eliminated and the CEO of a world wide social media outlet has been thrown in jail for what people who post on his sight have said. Be not mistaken. The Democrats will find great “JOY” in deciding what you can see on both X and Facebook if given the opportunity. They have been unashamed to say that this is a part of the party platform and you sure as hell better get in line with great “JOY” if you know what’s good for you.

    1. TiT,
      Great comment.
      Let us not forget it was the Democrats who were also pressing cable companies to ban Fox news.
      Perhaps Zuckerberg has seen the light and knows the pressure the Biden admin was putting on him may be just the beginning of the nightmare, only to get worse under a Harris/Waltz admin.

    2. Repealing and restructuring Section 230 doesn’t put the government in a stronger position to control tech platforms. It puts the citizens in that position. Reform of 230 results in lawsuits filed by citizens against Meta, X , TikTok for injuries caused by editorial policies.

      These lawsuits are settled in a Court of Law….the place where lies and liars are brought to heel. The Judge is a neutral referee in these proceedings, and uphold strict rule of evidence. A jury of 12 Americans sorts out fact from fiction, and decides the appropriate and proportional judgment.

      If we repeal Section 230, the social media giants will become ordinary publishers, and will be responsible for what gets published on their sites. This will force human moderation (instead of algorithmic), and thus force a radical downscaling of their reach.

      I think that would be good for society. There would be an explosion of opportunity to compete in publishing news and current events, no longer monopolized by a few mega-platforms. Children could be protected from harmful content, and publishers who violate that held accountable. Addictive algorithm design would be eliminated.

      Finally, the excuse “the algorithm did it” can be pushed to the dustbin of digital history, and the most dangerous excursion from humanism since the Enlightenment corrected.

      1. “ If we repeal Section 230, the social media giants will become ordinary publishers, and will be responsible for what gets published on their sites. ”

        They will also update their TOS and have even more incentive to censor content not approved by their TOS. Meaning they can still do what they have been doing. Trump once tried to sue twitter and found out any disputes would have to be litigated in California according the the TOS he agreed to.

        Repealing section 230 won’t do much. It will force companies to update their TOS to include a bunch of new rules that users will have to agree to in order to join.

        1. Not quite true. Facebook, Google, etc., would be open to lawsuits. As it is now, when a Facebook user publishes a link to a news story, in which the headline and the first few lines of the story appear, Facebook is not liable for misappropriating intellectual property. This is the key protection Section 230 provides. If social networks had to start paying a newspaper, say, a penny for every time a newspaper’s story was shared, the ubiquitous availability of news stories would end and either Facebook, et. al., would cut a deal with news outlets, or we’d have to go back to paying the publications directly for news. The net net is, a lot of the wealth accumulated by Facebook, Google, et.al., was essentially stolen from the publications, radio producers, TV producers, film producers, music producers, etc., who have stood by and watched their work be consumed without being paid.

        2. It’s estimated there are more than a billion items of intellectual property shared daily on Facebook. At a penny a share (which I’m really low balling and only counting the shares, not the clicks on the shares which would be far higher number than just shares) FB would be on the hook for more than $3.5 billion annually.

    3. You mean repealing section 230? LOL!! Yeah that will go well. You would need to….think it through before doing that.

      1. Lawn boy the booger eating troll, back with his “gub’ment” jibberish. Acting like he is someone he is not.

        1. Anyone who says “Lawn boy the booger eating troll” is probably some obese loser living in sh!tty pig sty. Get a job.

  7. The cure for all of this is economic, just like Bud Lite. If we truly felt affronted, enraged and violated by what the MSM does we would cut off their lifeline of cash by boycotting their corporations. Just turn off facebook, etc. and uninstall their apps and refuse to see their ads and they will go belly up. But I doubt if enough of us have the will to do this.

  8. Looking forward to a Turley article commenting on what KBJ, the Supreme Court’s recent DEI hire, is doing here in her Nora O’Donell CBS interview. Who is going to tell her to shut her f’n trap?
    —–
    “Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson appears surprised the Constitution deals with potential criminality by the president differently than ordinary American citizens:

    “I was concerned about a system that appeared to provide immunity for one individual, under one set of circumstances, when we have a criminal justice system that would ordinarily treat everyone the same.””
    —–
    “What Jackson is doing – commenting on a recent decision with legal reverberations still pending, is unethical. She’s being deployed as a political tool by the Democrats and the media.

    If I were Chief Justice Roberts, I’d have a talk with her quickly. Don’t expect Senate Dems to complain about this like they did about a meaningless flag displayed at the Alitos’ house though. For Jackson, it was mission accomplished!”

  10. The Internet (Computers) is evolving in a way to control Us (You) sub-cognizantly.
    When you don’t know (realize) the difference of being manipulated into subservience,
    You be feel comfortable with enslavement.

    Zuckerberg knows this as well as Others. The tech-evolution is separating Men from Gentiles.

    Mass Mind Control

  11. Great pic for this op Ed, Turls. Zuckerberg and the Gimp. And the Gimp’s rat pelt haircut.

    Zuck’s doing what he sees fit to get by.

  12. Jonathan: So Mark Zuckerberg’s mea culpa is now an admission that he bowed to Biden administration pressure to “censor” content re Caovid-19? I suspect Zuckerberg’s letter to Jim Jordan was more an attempt to avoid a fight with Jordan who threatened to hold the Meta chief in contempt. Zuckerberg wanted to put the fight with Jordan behind him. So he fell on the sword rather than admit the obvious–that he was ultimately responsible “content moderation” on Facebook over Covid-19. No one in the Biden administration held a gun to his head.

    In your column you mention the SC’s ruling (6-3) authored by Justice Coney-Barrett. But you ignore the salient part of Murphy v. Missouri. As mentioned in an earlier comment Barrett found that the plaintiffs had no standing to challenge Biden administration attempts get social media to moderate disinformation re Covid-19 because they could not prove any direct harm. Despite all your claims of a vast “censorship system” by the Biden administration that claim was not established in the Murphy case–the only decision by the SC to directly address the issue.

    Without any support by the SC you still falsely claim the “President is arguably the most anti-free speech president since John Adams”. That claim has now disappeared into the ether!

    1. “No one in the Biden administration held a gun to his head.”

      The new standard for censorship, according to Dennis.

      You’ll know you’ve been censored when there is a gun to your head—-Dennis McIncrier

    2. Dennis McIncrier has to be a bot. He has been told before that it Murphy vs Missouri is a case from the 1990’s.

    3. Why would the SC opine on whether the “President is arguably the most anti-free speech president since John Adams?”
      Apparently, you believe your own fact-deficient opinion should outweigh the learned professor’s opinion?

  13. If Harris is elected, this type of censorship will not only continue but increase significantly. It is in the DNA of the modern Democrat and Big Tech Executives that that only they have the intellectual capacity and the moral integrity to determine what information should be allowed to be conveyed to the unwashed masses. Therefore they must retain all power including control of the media and all levers of government. They are totalitarian by nature and will be relentless in their pursuit of capturing the power to control the population. Even if Trump wins this election they are likely to eventually get their wish as they now control the educational system and will have indoctrinated more than two generations of students

    1. You’re wrong. She’s going to release a statement that she’s changed her mind. She no longer believes that. In fact, she’s going to adopt Trump’s policy, whatever that is.

      Free speech for all! /s

      1. FYI, Harris, the co-sponsor of the 2019 Zero Emission Vehicle Act, issued a statement yesterday that she does not support an EV mandate.

        She has spoken about and promoted EVs from 2019-2024.

        She reminds me of a line from the play Hamilton: “If you stand for nothing, what will you fall for?”

        1. SD,
          She now endorses Trump’s wall, now that it is polling as one of American’s top concerns.

  14. With rich insects like Zuckerberg still on the scene, the First Amendment remains at risk.

    1. More evidence that “conspiracy theorist” is just another way of saying “first with the correct answer”

  15. Dear Mr. Turley, the “Zuck bucks” made their way into the northern Wisconsin city of Green Bay. I was surprised he would pick such a well known city to do his dirty work in. His money talked and the Brown County officials fell into Zuckerberg’s line. This was one of the biggest influences against Mr. Trump in the 2020 election. I wonder if he will ever answer for it? Certainty the left-wing media will leave well enough alone as their guy made it to the top.

  16. The professor, a lawyer, should know why the plaintiffs in Murthy and the allegations against the government have not been successful with their claims of government censorship. The fifth circuit, which has been overturned often by SCOTUS for its bad decisions and bad interpretation of law chose to believe allegations instead of finding of fact. That’s really bad.

    1. Murthy was sent back down based on standing not substance. Kennedy vs. Biden, the same case but brought by RFK, is still active because he has standing

      1. Byron, the Murthy case was sent back because the fifth circuit did not rule on facts, to ruled on allegations. That’s why they were found to lack standing to sue.

        1. oh, but that’s not what you said before, is it Georgie. You had to be corrected.

  17. You seem to be framing the dissemination of misinformation and disinformation during a pandemic that killed over one million Americans as a partisan censorship issue. But this is a public health issue, not political speech. If the Biden administration put pressure on Facebook to curb medical misinformation during a pandemic, that sure seems to me to be in the public interest.

    1. LOL. Oh so close. Problem is, Sunshine, the fascist Biden administration put pressure on social media to curb medical INformation and disseminate medical MISinformation for the benefit of the looting pharma cos.

      1. Trumptards can’t get their epithets straight. Is Biden a communist? Is he a fascist? You might as well call him a Muslim terrorist. The stupidity is hilarious. And sad. But hilarious.

    2. Planned Parent/hood in several Democratic districts, masked accumulators, inoculated misinformation, disinformation, recurrence, injury, and progressive social distress and dysfunction that harmed economic and individual development on a forward-looking basis.

    3. Suppression of the Hunter laptop story had nothing to do with medical misinformation. What it was, was suppression of information that may have hurt one party, under pressure from that very party, just before an election.
      And IIRC, they also censored The Great Barrington Declaration which was not misinformation at all but common sense. Fauci and Collins tried to get the authors discredited.

      1. I hesitate to call the Hunter’s Laptop whopper pushed out by Tony Blinken, Mile Morrell and Joe Biden “censorship”, because it’s an even more potent form of deceitful infowarfare where instead of merely blocking the publication of unfavorable info, the perpetrators insert an alternate, competing narrative as a complete fabrication. Why is this distinction important?

        The 1st Amendment prohibits government from censorship, but doesn’t prohibit them lying to The People as an alternate means of shaping opinion in the desired direction. We could “spend our entire wad” fighting to insure govt. is denied use of classical censorship, and even be successful, and still find our candidates and elected officials free to dupe us however they wish (so long as the media act in sympathy).

        Let’s be clear — political ex-CIA infowarriors like Mile Morrell have PsyOps training, and are way ahead of the public. Their toolset is larger than the traditional censorship model, and losing that tool is just a minot setback.
        Here come high-quality AI deepfakes, use of offshore media reaching into the US, and other modern, borderless infowarfare techniques being thought up as we speak.

        Censorship is just one face of the challenge we face. Better to define the enemy broadly as intentionally deceptive opinion-shaping for political ends.

    4. “If the Biden administration put pressure on Facebook to curb medical misinformation”

      If only that is what they had done. spastic

    5. I guess you’re okay with the govt lying to your face. There was no pandemic, it was the flu. COVID was concocted for you to take the jab, an Emergency Use Authorized genetic therapy injection, making you a genetically modified individual. That’s what messengerRiboNucleicAcid (mRNA) does. It tells your cells what proteins to make. It was neither safe nor effective and people are still dying from the jab. Masks do not stop a molecule and 6ft distancing idea was pulled out of someone’s (Fraudci) ass. PCR tests cannot determine if you have an illness. It is a forensic tool used to generate enough DNA in order to match it to an individual. Next time do your homework.

    6. My assumption is that you’re being sarcastic, at least I hope you are. We know that the majority of what the government labeled “misinformation and disinformation” was actually the truth. In fact, the CDC previously stated that masks didn’t work, and social distancing didn’t work (there are studies going back to the 80s showing this to be the case which the CDC had on their website). Then suddenly the CDC removed the studies from their website and labeled it disinformation.
      Then, pressuring state governmental agencies to threaten doctors who prescribe Ivermectin because its success was “disinformation”. Only recently did that lie finally get exposed (although most physicians new it was a lie but couldn’t do anything about it because “disinformation”). How many people died because of this attack on free speech and a choice made between a physician and patient?
      Finally, all the lies about the vaccine. The goal posts moved so often on what that was supposed to do that it was impossible to keep up, but if the public didn’t just nod their head and accept that today’s TRUTH is the real TRUTH and questioning why the TRUTH was different yesterday is disinformation.
      Anyone who went through the COVID debacle with any ounce of critical thinking ability should know that the terms “misinformation and disinformation” are just buzz words for censorship, control, and newspeak.

  18. The Professor makes an open-and-shut case why this ass clown, Zuckerberg, should never be trusted. The minute Zuckerberg thinks Trump will lose, he’ll start attacking Trump to curry favor with the DNC, business as usual. All this contrition is just hedging in case Trump wins.

    1. Diogenes,
      I was thinking whatever AI Meta has developed told Zuckerberg Trump was going to win. So, he sent the letter to CYA.

  19. And Zuckerberg’s known history, there’s a pattern of betrayal. Just say the least he would rather ask forgiveness than permission and when he doesn’t get it, he doesn’t care even a lawsuit, a pass fancy to him as he breezes through on the heels of success.

    It would be interesting clinically to see his facial response. If he were to be presented with a list of the consequences that be fill the rest of the nation as a result of the decisions and actions by Facebook and the last five years. This is been a sad period for all Americans, where their fellows seem to shrug off or blow off the most serious of transgressions to their fellow man .

    1. He is a true, soul-less progressive who is motivated by a narcissism that allows him to feel superior to others below his economic station and, like all progressives, will conintue their progression towards their concept of a utopian world dominion if not stopped in their tracks soon.

  20. So what criminal laws have been broken here between facebook and the US Government?

    Please Clarify.

    1. Re Jonathan’s post …”Zuckerberg’s sudden regret only came after his company fought for years to conceal evidence of its work with the government to censor opposing views. Zuckerberg was finally compelled to release the documents by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and the House Judiciary Committee.” Zuckerberg has been played games in numerous testimonies before congress etc. hiding behind the veil of “privacy protection” … in many examples over the several years…. and “now” he is very very sorry. What more do you need.

Comments are closed.