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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”

  1. Kamala Harris can go to hell
    – JD Vance.

    He is a leader. Better if he were the Presidential nominee

    1. “What is the bigger scandal: That Donald Trump was invited to stand by a graveside and actually accepted the invitation or that Kamala Harris let 13 brave Americans die because she’s a failure of a leader?”

      VOTE HER OUT!

    2. Gold Star families defend Trump in Arlington controversy:
      “We had given our approval for President Trump’s official videographer and photographer to attend the event, ensuring these sacred moments of remembrance were respectfully captured, and so we can cherish these memories forever. We are deeply grateful to the President for taking the time to honor our children and for standing alongside us in our grief, offering his unwavering support during such a difficult time. His compassion and respect meant more than words can express.”

      Kamala can go to hell. Joe Biden can go to hell. Stolen Valor Tampon Timmy Walz can go to hell.
      The fake news media can go to hell.

    1. Our neighbor, a friendly black young family where the husband worked for Obama, had us over for dinner recently. We exchange gifts often. I saw late this afternoon that they placed Kamala signs in their house front windows. So we are looking where we can buy “Kommunists for Kamala” and “ANTIFA for Kamala” signs.

      1. See below as Dennis the Demented Draft Dodger projects Kamalas fear of the debate onto Trump.

        Kamala is the one who asked for a chair and notes.

        Kamala is the one hiding from the press.

        Kamala is the one who needs weeks of debate prep.

        She and Dennis are the cowards here

    2. * handwriting on the wall. Coercion is an incentive as in section 230 liability protections…

      Does Z say what the pressure was? Constant badgering including profanity etc?

      Perhaps Z is a harbinger…

  3. Jonathan: Will DJT agree to debate Kamala Harris or not? That is the question. Everyone wants to know. Fox News thinks he won’t. But yesterday DJT suddenly caved and agreed to debate Harris on the original terms on ABC…although DJT keeps whining that ABC is “fake news” and the “nastiest and most unfair newscaster in the business”.

    Who knows what tomorrow will bring. Maybe DJT will change his mind again. He’s like the petulant 3-yr old who always wants his way. What is clear is that DJT is afraid of Kamala Harris in a debate. Unlike “Sleepy Joe” DJT knows Harris won’t let him get away with his bombastic performances, his antics and false claims. Like the seasoned prosecutor she displayed for years in court she will hold DJT’s feet to the fire. That has DJT running scared. He feels cornered.

    One thing is clear. DJT has run out of options. If he doesn’t go through with the debate on Sept. 10 everyone in country–I mean EVERYONE–will know DJT is a low down dirty COWARD! But then for those of us who have watched DJT for years we already knew that going in.

    1. Dennis McIncrier is a low down dirty coward who refuses to debate. He just wants to post old news and lies on his Supermarket Tabloid.

      Kamala tried to change the rules.

      Get a grip in yourself, Denny.

    2. “What is clear is that DJT is afraid of Kamala Harris in a debate.”

      Right, Trump is afraid to debate Kamala?
      Trump talks to anyone, anywhere, about anything — including showing up at the Black Journalists Society event that even Kamala refused to show up for!
      Where’s Kamala? Hiding. Avoiding. Preparing. For ONE interview. With a super-fan, sycophant interviewer.
      My god, you are a brainwashed fool.

  4. Of course democracy is on the ballot! It’s under threat from the very people that you finalized realized were pro-censorship.

  5. @CynicalPublius

    “I am about to author a truthful, brief, 21-point biography of Kamala Harris. The following statements are objectively and verifiably true. If you are a Democrat, you can decide to hate me for this, but you cannot deny the factual accuracy of what I am about to say:

    1. Kamala Harris is the offspring of two foreign-born college professors, and they provided Kamala a prosperous childhood ensconced amidst the Ivory Towers of academia.

    2. Kamala Harris’ mother comes from the Indian Brahmin caste, which sits atop India’s horrifically backward and oppressive caste system. Her father comes from a family of wealthy Jamaican slave plantation owners.

    3. Kamala Harris’ father was an influential Marxist economist.

    4. Kamala Harris spent her formative teen-age years living in Montreal, Canada. At no time in her formative years did Harris ever live what is customarily referred to as “The African-American Experience”; or, for that matter, the American working class experience.

    5. Kamala Harris failed the California bar exam.

    6. Kamala Harris rose to political prominence in California thanks to the support of a much older, married and influential Democrat pol, Willie Brown, with whom she was having sex while he advanced her career.

    7. As California’s Attorney General, Kamala Harris knowingly engaged in numerous unfair and unethical legal practices that wrongfully denied many, many unjustly-incarcerated black men their freedom and liberty.

    8. As a Senator from California, Kamala Harris was ranked by many non-partisan political analysts as the most extreme Leftist in the Senate.

    9. Running as a Democrat Presidential candidate in 2020, while being incredibly well-funded, Kamala Harris nevertheless polled at the bottom of all major candidates and was one of the very first to withdraw. This was widely perceived to be a function of her unlikeability and her inability to offer cogent campaign positions of substance.

    10. Joe Biden explicitly stated that he hired Harris BECAUSE she is a black woman. Thus, it is entirely fair to label her a “DEI hire.”

    11. Kamala Harris as Vice President has had an unusually high staff turnover rate exceeding 90%.

    12. The media is extremely hard-pressed to recount a single accomplishment of Harris as VP. Quite the opposite, they have white-washed her informal title as “Border Czar” as she failed to do anything to stop the extremely high flow into the USA of illegal immigrants.

    13. Prior to becoming the Presidential candidate, Kamala Harris had the lowest VP approval ratings of any VP since Spiro Agnew.

    14. Kamala Harris knew that Joe Biden had dementia and was incompetent, and took no actions of any kind to ensure that the USA had a competent President.

    15. Kamala Harris, along with Barack Obama and other Democrat luminaries, engaged in some form of extortion to force Joe Biden to step aside as the Democrat Presidential nominee in 2024, so she could assume that mantle herself.

    16. Kamala Harris never received a single primary vote in favor of the candidacy she seized from Joe Biden.

    17. As the Presidential candidate, Kamala Harris was spurned by most of the Democrat party luminaries to be her VP candidate, and instead she settled for Tim Walz, a VP candidate with an extraordinary amount of negative personal baggage.

    18. Kamala Harris has been the Democrat Presidential candidate for approximately six weeks, and has yet to engage in any sort of press interview of any kind.

    19. Kamala Harris has never worked in a private business in her adult life.

    20. Kamala Harris has stated virtually no campaign positions of any kind, and some major ones that she has stated are exact duplicates of her GOP opponent’s long-standing positions.

    21. The most visible components of Kamala Harris’ campaign platform thus far are arguably “brat” and “JOY!”

    All of the above is objectively true. These are not opinions, these are facts.

    So allow me to summarize the above:

    “Kamala Harris is the privileged child of racist immigrant college professors, she has all but no connection to the American working class experience in her formative years, she rose to prominence by having sex with a much older, powerful Democrat politician, as a government lawyer she engaged in corrupt practices that discriminated against black men in prison, as a Senator she was the most extreme Leftist in the Senate, she got chosen as VP because of her skin color and genitalia, as VP she has had no notable accomplishments other than to ignore the advanced dementia of her boss, she used extortion to grab the Presidential nomination for herself, and her campaign currently consists of hiding from the press while having no verifiable campaign platform.”

    Vote wisely.”

    1. Democratic strategy is anybody but Trump. They could run Bugs Bunny against Trump and Bugs would be the greatest invention since bread and butter.

    2. Tom: why not cite the sources for what you claim are facts? We both know why: this is a sh!t list you got from MAGA media. A couple of brief observations: Kamala’s parents divorced when she was young. Kamala worked at McDonald’s to help make ends meet. There is photographic proof of her wearing her uniform. Her mother, who had custody of her and her sister, saved for years to get the down payment for their first home that wasn’t a rental— Kamala was in high school at the time. Nothing you say about her and her family is true.

      The MAGA media that spoon- feeds you the lies you repeat has no idea what Kamala Harris knows or thinks. It is a racist MAGA trope to accuse VP Harris of screwing her way to the top—She worked her way up from a courtroom prosecutor to District Attorney, Attorney General and Senator— in contradistinction to trust fund baby Trump who had millions handed to him by his father who bailed him out of one financial failure after another.

      I saw a piece today that struck me—Trump’s fake presidency didn’t age him visibly like virtually every previous president. The reason why is simple- he didn’t give a sh!t about the awesome responsibility of leading the country like all of his predecessors who visibly aged. He took off an average of three days per week to play golf and stay at his resorts. There are multiple reports that he had so little interest in the presidential daily briefings that they had to dumb them down and limit them to one page. Trump is a sociopath— he doesn’t care about the soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan because of his poor decisions, about the hundreds of thousands of Americans who died unnecessarily because of his COVID lies, nor about Ashli Babbitt who died believing in the Big Lie. Didn’t care about the Capitol Police officers who were injured and those who died of their injuries because of the Big Lie. All he has ever cared about is attention, power and the glory of the American presidency.

    3. No way would I vote for her but a lot of the stuff on that list is silly, like who cares. It’s actually not bad that her parent is from Brahmin class. Who thinks that is bad?

      Her support of the Biden presidency is her worst demerit and the second worst is the fact that she failed in securing the border whatsoever. Actually that’s the worst. But it’s also the reason those billionaires probably love her, they want to import another 10 million scab workers

  6. I’m one indictment away from being re-elected. Donald Trump. Maybe this is the one.

  7. Kamala Harris:

    Freedom, Free Enterprise, Free Industries, Free Markets, Private Property, Infinitesimal Government
    ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, George Mason, John Adams, et al.:

    “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”

    “Dictatorship of the Proletariat.”
    ____________________________________

    Did I get that right?

  8. Within the last few days Patrick Ben David and Bret Weinstein had an interesting conversation. Though the video is long, it’s highly recommended (Weinstein is an unusually perceptive observer of the contemporary political scene). One thing Weinstein theorized was that the Zuckerberg apology stems from Zuckerberg’s perception – based on billions of pieces of information that FB has access to concerning people’s electoral intentions – that Trump has a high chance of winning in November. Zuckerberg sees where things are likely to go and doesn’t want to be caught on the bad side of the next administration. I’m not saying it’s foolproof but it’s an interesting, and plausible, theory, IMHO.

    1. Zuck is “apologizing” now because he no longer has to protect the Biden administration – Slo Joe’s long government tenure is over and nobody cares about what he & his admin did. The timing of Zuck’s admission is also curious. He’s admitting to colluding with the government but wants everybody to think he’s sorry so the inference is that he and Meta/Facebook will be on the level moving forward. That’s the perfect cover for doing it all over again as he applies the same obfuscation tactics to all things Kammy.

      1. Zuck is a nerd and a dork all at once, but since he started rolling BJJ he is far more cunning.

        It’s his only redeeming feature

        Saloth Sar

  9. *SENATOR KEELEY. Justice Thurgood Marshall pointed out free speech is the not only speech . It is the right to listen, speak, read and write.

    In the 1st minute of Murthy v. Missouri the standing is issue is wrong. The plaintiffs have the right to listen, to hear , read what was censored

  11. “REMINDER: The person at Kamala and Biden’s White House who was responsible for getting Facebook to censor the free speech of Americans was former Director of Digital Strategy, Rob Flaherty.

    He’s now Kamala’s Deputy Campaign Manager.”

  12. THIS ADMISSION IS NOT NEWS, THIS ADMISSION IS OLDS
    _________________________________________________________________

    “Zuckerberg tells Rogan FBI warning prompted Biden laptop story censorship”

    – David Molloy, BBC, 26 August 2022
    _________________________________________

    Zuck confessed the Deep Deep State, “Swamp,” Regime, and FBI’s election interference in 2022.

    Why is Zuck reprising his mea culpa today?

    Is Zuckerberg attempting to absolve and shift the onus from Kamala Harris and attach it to Joe Biden?

    Kamala Harris was the “last person in the room” expounding on expurgation.

  13. Jonathan Turley, on the contrary democracy is in potential peril this November. Read Project 2025, with the authors thereof planning to take over a Trump (mal)administration.

    1. Here’s a simple Venn diagram to show you the relationship between Project 2025 and the Republican Party platform:

      Project 2025 O O Republican Party platform

    3. Tell your orderly to up your Donepezil dose, Benson, and finish your brocolli today. You’ll feel better.

    4. Trump disavowed that weeks ago. It is a MSM lie they keep bringing up.

      1. First of all: Trump is a pathological liar–when his handlers discovered how unpopular the key provisions of Project 2025 are, he disavowed it.. Trump ia purely transactional–he will do or say anything to get what he wants. Excerpted from “Salon”, piece entitled “Experts warn–‘don’t be fooled by Trump’s Project 2025 denials–his fingerprints are all over it”:

        “Trump’s campaign has repeatedly denied any link between Trump and Project 2025 this summer.

        Dartmouth sociology professor John Campbell called that “hard to believe.”

        In July, Trump claimed on social media that he has “no idea who is behind” Project 2025.

        But, dozens of Trump’s former administration employees now work at the conservative groups that advised Project 2025, according to CNN.

        And the Washington Post reported he took a private flight with Heritage’s president in April 2022 on the way to the foundation’s annual conference. Trump’s spokesperson denied the Post’s report that the nonprofit briefed Trump himself on Project 2025.

        Trump spoke at the nonprofit’s dinner, saying: “This is a great group, and they’re going to lay the groundwork and detail plans for exactly what our movement will do and what your movement will do when the American people give us a colossal mandate to save America.”

        In September 2023, Trump’s spokesperson acknowledged similarities between Project 2025 and Trump’s own platform.

        “Everyone knows his America First agenda actually works, which is why many are copying him,” his spokesperson Liz Harrington told Politico.

        And this week, the nonprofit Centre for Climate Reporting released an undercover video recorded July 24 in which Project 2025 author and former Trump administration official Russell Vought said the former president was “very supportive of what” Project 2025 does.

        “He is running against the brand,” Vought said of Trump’s denials of any connection to Project 2025. “He is not running against any people. He’s not running against any institutions. It’s interesting he’s in fact not even opposing himself to a particular policy. He’s been at our organization, he’s raised money for our organization, he’s blessed it.”

        University of Cincinnati College of Law dean emeritus Joseph Tomain said regardless — the similarities between the manifesto and Trump’s platform are undeniable.

        “Let’s assume he knows nothing about it,” Tomain said. “The fact of the matter is his political agenda, and the political agenda of the project, run parallel to each other.”

        Scores of ideas floated by Trump over the years appear in fleshed-out form in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, which is backed by over a hundred conservative groups and whose contributors include over 100 former Trump administration officials.

        For example, Project 2025 offers plans to expand presidential power, make it easier for Trump to fire civil servants and replace them with political appointees, shutter the Department of Education and make it easier to mass deport migrants. Trump has promised an executive order to cease federal programs that “promote sex and gender transition at any age” — page 474 of Project 2025 has a plan to have the federal government “acknowledge there is insufficient scientific evidence to support” coverage for gender-affirming surgeries in state plans.”

        1. What’s the problem? Cut out the fraud, waste and abuse of a bloated bureacracy. Cut the leviathan down to size. Eliminate DOE and send education issues back to the states. Weed out the unelected, unaccountable Deep State imbedded saboteurs that Obama spend 12 years installing throughout the gub’ment. Probably 90% of what Project 2025 seeks to do is beneficial for the country overall, while those who oppose it are the grifters and corrupt scumbags riding on the government gravy train.

            1. Any worker who gets a paycheck, any paycheck, from the government must not be enabled to vote.

        2. Now tell us about Build Back Better and Agenda 2030 that Biden signed onto.

        3. ‘Gigi’ *hearts* Trump
          He’s such a naughty boy
          She knows every single detail

        4. Dartmouth sociology professor John Campbell called that “hard to believe.”

          This is proof that gigi cut and pasted her entire reply from someone else’s thoughts.

          Pathetic.

          Give me a minute while I go find the source.

          1. Well, that took 3 seconds.

            Gigenius cut and pasted her entire response from an article in Salon

            Is anyone surprised?

        5. Project 2025 has nothing to do with Trump. You are a liar.

          Trumps basic platform follows:

          1
          SEAL THE BORDER AND STOP THE MIGRANT INVASION
          2
          CARRY OUT THE LARGEST DEPORTATION OPERATION IN AMERICAN HISTORY
          3
          END INFLATION, AND MAKE AMERICA AFFORDABLE AGAIN
          4
          MAKE AMERICA THE DOMINANT ENERGY PRODUCER IN THE WORLD, BY FAR!
          5
          STOP OUTSOURCING, AND TURN THE UNITED STATES INTO A MANUFACTURING SUPERPOWER
          6
          LARGE TAX CUTS FOR WORKERS, AND NO TAX ON TIPS!
          7
          DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION, OUR BILL OF RIGHTS, AND OUR FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS, INCLUDING FREEDOM OF SPEECH, FREEDOM OF RELIGION, AND THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS
          8
          PREVENT WORLD WAR THREE, RESTORE PEACE IN EUROPE AND IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AND BUILD A GREAT IRON DOME MISSILE DEFENSE SHIELD OVER OUR ENTIRE COUNTRY — ALL MADE IN AMERICA
          9
          END THE WEAPONIZATION OF GOVERNMENT AGAINST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
          10
          STOP THE MIGRANT CRIME EPIDEMIC, DEMOLISH THE FOREIGN DRUG CARTELS, CRUSH GANG VIOLENCE, AND LOCK UP VIOLENT OFFENDERS
          11
          REBUILD OUR CITIES, INCLUDING WASHINGTON DC, MAKING THEM SAFE, CLEAN, AND BEAUTIFUL AGAIN.
          12
          STRENGTHEN AND MODERNIZE OUR MILITARY, MAKING IT, WITHOUT QUESTION, THE STRONGEST AND MOST POWERFUL IN THE WORLD
          13
          KEEP THE U.S. DOLLAR AS THE WORLD’S RESERVE CURRENCY
          14
          FIGHT FOR AND PROTECT SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE WITH NO CUTS, INCLUDING NO CHANGES TO THE RETIREMENT AGE
          15
          CANCEL THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE MANDATE AND CUT COSTLY AND BURDENSOME REGULATIONS
          16
          CUT FEDERAL FUNDING FOR ANY SCHOOL PUSHING CRITICAL RACE THEORY, RADICAL GENDER IDEOLOGY, AND OTHER INAPPROPRIATE RACIAL, SEXUAL, OR POLITICAL CONTENT ON OUR CHILDREN
          17
          KEEP MEN OUT OF WOMEN’S SPORTS
          18
          DEPORT PRO-HAMAS RADICALS AND MAKE OUR COLLEGE CAMPUSES SAFE AND PATRIOTIC AGAIN
          19
          SECURE OUR ELECTIONS, INCLUDING SAME DAY VOTING, VOTER IDENTIFICATION, PAPER BALLOTS, AND PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP
          20
          UNITE OUR COUNTRY BY BRINGING IT TO NEW AND RECORD LEVELS OF SUCCESS

    6. Trump stated that he wanted to be dictator “for a day”. But then, of course, he just proclaims himself dictator for life.
      He also proclaimed that when you vote once for him, you’ll never need to vote again.
      So much for our representative democracy, a republic.

      1. How is Trump a dictator? He was there for four years already. He was hounded by the media, hounded by Democrats, Pelosi, Schumer, his own party, constrained by courts, etc. He left office. He ran for reelection and won a competitive primary. He’s been talking to anyone who asks for an interview. No press question is off limits. He ran a transparent administration. He fired people for incompetence. How is he going to “be a dictator” when he is constrained from doing so by our system of checks and balances?

        Did Trump ever do a prime time address to threaten the Supreme Court, calling out justices, telling the country that the highest court in the land “won’t stop” him? That’s what a dictator does. Biden has done it repeatedly.
        Has Biden ever fired anyone for extreme incompetence? Anyone? Biden is abusing his power, brazenly. So is his Attorney General. So is Mayorkas. So is the rest of his cabinet. They are unaccountable. Who is constraining them? They are openly defying the Supreme Court, judges’ opinions they don’t like. They are bypassing laws, legal ethics, rules they choose to ignore because they can get away with it.

        Now we have Kamala Harris behaving like a dictator. The world just witnessed the most authoritarian and undemocratic political campaign in American history, with Harris being selected in a backroom deal, a palace coup. She was not elected in a democratic process. She got zero votes. Ever. Not one.

        Now, she refuses to answer questions, sit for interviews, or be held accountable for anything she has said or done. That’s how a dictator acts. And those defending her behavior are defending the indefensible.

        You’re brainwashed.

        1. Yeah, David B. Benson. Get with it.
          Only parrot independent and
          right-wing media, like Upstate does.

      3. Benson says: “He also proclaimed that when you vote once for him, you’ll never need to vote again.”

        Trump was talking to a specific audience of Christian conservatives who don’t tend to vote.
        Taken in context, his words to them meant, vote for me this time, because this is the most important election for the future of our country, and then you don’t have to worry about voting again.

        He meant vote now, in this election, and then go back to being passive non-voters again if you choose.

      4. One reason Biden and Harris CAN act like dictators is because of the Fake News media.
        If we had a real news media, instead of State TV, Pravda, Regime Propagandists working for the CIA, then maybe David B. Benson would KNOW SOME OF THESE THINGS.
        But you do not. Why? Because the news media is in the tank for Democrats. MSNBC is all propanda.
        The news media is corrupt and fake. As such, they are just as Trump has called them out to be: The Enemy of The People.

      5. Benson, you’ll feel better after you’ve had your tapioca.

        Please, lights out early for you tonight, ok?

      6. It’s obviously not going to happen, but I’ll play. Say Trump proclaims himself dictator for life. Then what? In your fantasy Congress, the courts, the military, etc. all just shrug and say, OK, we’ve got us a dictator. We’ll all obey. Is that right?

        No offense, but you’re a nut.

  14. * It’s simple. Censorship is already done and it’s labeled crime. Criminal acts are against the law.

    Mal, dis, mis information is lying. Lying is against the law under oath and Z is avoiding perjury he reimagines. Reshaping the truth is lying. There are laws about that, too. Content moderation is self censorship. Z recommends self censorship as he does at Facebook.

    Political speech , what is it? Persuasion or facts?

    Did Z lie under oath? He doesn’t care either way, actually. A real example of exempt.

      1. * it’s appropriate to listen to oral arguments ,Murthy v. Missouri and persuasion or coercion if you have the stomach for it.

  15. A whole lot of us saw this writing on the wall way back when Obama was having his breakfasts with Silicon Valley CEOs, and then during his second term had Google literally working from out of the White House (given Google’s record then, with Eric Schmidt at the helm, a true psycho if ever there was one, this was alarming. Microsoft was no better. Steve Jobs actually had ethics. Millennial Silicon Valley and web 2.0, of which Zuckerberg is the poster child, not so much). Nobody cared, despite the sounds of alarm all over the tech sphere, and this was well over a decade ago. So here we are.

    I do not know how anyone with a conscience continues to vote for Obama/Clinton/Soros dems, which are the diametrical opposite of the JFK dems they seem to think they are still supporting and largely no longer exist. We could have avoided all of this; again, at the time, nobody cared, due in part to how great their stock portfolios were doing at the time. No one. Priorities. 🙄 Think back to someone you may have known then that had disavowed Microsoft under Gates and Ballmer, or Google under Schmidt, and remember how you thought they were stupid, if not simply tin foil hat crazy.

    We can’t let it continue any longer, that much is certain, and it will only get worse, so much worse, irreversibly worse, if we keep electing modern, American democrats. The wheels are off and this will just be a free fall now if we don’t do things differently. And we can, if we have the courage. Do you? By extension, the RNC is no longer what it was. The likes of Sean Hannity, Mitch McConnell, Ann Coulter, or Bill O’Reilly are dead, everyone thinks they are idiots, on all sides. Anyone who is not a dyed in the wool and brainwashed dem, regardless of affiliation, just wants sanity back. the aforementioned dems seem to live inside a fantasy.

  16. In Congressional testimony earlier this year Zuckerberg denied that the Biden administration pressured him to censor posts on Facebook.

    Is he lying now, or did he lie to Congress.

    1. @Anonymous

      He’s always been a conniver and a liar. What in the heck did people think, ‘big data’, was for? Does it matter? the point is he is an opportunistic stooge, always has been, and if he hadn’t been undeniably caught with his hand in the cookie jar, it would be business as usual. And don’t think for a second he isn’t still doing what he’s aways done, from day one. Watch, ‘The Social Network’, again. That is just who he is. There is nothing remarkable about Zuckerberg but his willingness to bend over for personal gain.

  17. And nothing will ever come of it except more censorship as we see in Europe.

  18. I couldn’t agree more with the article except I will admit I’m not as hard a judge on Zuckerberg’s sudden public acknowledgement and remorse as you are. Yes I see he’s doing it now because he sees the writing on the wall, and its all coming out.

    He also sees the Red Wave coming, which no doubt makes him feel safer in coming out and acknowledging the Biden Admin pressured Meta as we all knew they were doing.

    Still though whenever a whistleblower steps forward, even one who’s been involved in the cover-up but who can either no longer stand it or who is worried about being implicated themselves, is still a good thing.

    And it still takes some courage to speak up and acknowledge you were part of the system, albeit unwillingly as he claims, but still. The lefts going to come down on him hard, he knows this. It will open him up to attacks like they did to Musk so it isn’t an easy thing to do I imagine.

    So while I get it that he was complicit, and I get it that he’s coming out now due to seeing the shift in power moving towards Red, its still a great blow to the war on free speech coming from the left. Its a gift horse I wouldn’t look too hard at the mouth on. Better late to the party than never, especially now because this ones gonna leave a ‘mark’.

    1. Valid points to be considered, for sure Chris. Then again, Z could have always published any threats (and the names leveraging those threats) for allowing more speech on his own platform – at any time. Like Musk, he’s just as free to speak his mind against government coercion and could have spoken up long ago, starting from the moment he realized he was suppressing speech not previously considered ‘misinformation’. He chose not to – until he thought speaking up might benefit himself and his platform. Better late than never? Perhaps. Just as likely if not more so, is too little-too late. Why should anyone now believe this tiger’s stripes have changed?

        1. With all the nodding in this spot I can only say, “monkey-see, monkey-do.” 😊

      2. Well first I never said I or anyone else should “believe” anything about him, much less his “tiger stripes have changed”. Never said that. Never even implied it. You came up with that.

        As for your points, yes they’re valid too. Yes he could have spoken up sooner, exposed some of the threats perhaps. Of course we don’t know all the nature of that pressure do we? I’d have been afraid myself personally had the administration threatened to treat me like Julian Assange or something should I ever dare tell anyone what they are doing. Fact is we just don’t know the nature of the threats, or the position they may have had him in.

        What we do know is they called him before a Congressional Hearing, televised it and accosted him publicly threatening him with break up of his company along with other things. So we know he was seriously pressured, and I’ve learned that I can never really say what I’d do in someone else’s position, until I’m in that position myself.

        That being said its still very valid that he should have come forth sooner, but the point is it doesn’t matter now.

        He didn’t.

        So haranguing him and lambasting him over his decision to come forward now, is a good way to pressure him into backpedaling his testimony.

        Also its a sure way to discourage others who may have information like this that could be of great benefit to protecting our freedoms IF they would come forward with it.

        You need to stop thinking with emotion and start thinking like a Cop.

        When a cop gets a stoolie, they don’t badger him, threaten him and insult him for not coming forward sooner. Because they know that’s a sure way to get a singing stoolie to clam up.

        Instead, they buy him a pack of smokes and donut, and promise him immunity if he’ll just testify to what he knows.

        Because that’s how you win.

        Are we learning yet….

        1. Zuckerberg is the stoolie, Chris? One of the most powerful, power-hungry social media people in the world is now a stoolie. Interesting perspective.

          1. Its a waste of time talking with people, especially trolls who don’t understand the use of simple euphemisms.

            Send in a troll with a higher IQ please.

          2. Lesson 2 for Chris Weber:

            To let your Pom Poms grow, you can’t keep insulting people because you lack knowledge.

            1. Your comment isn’t even worthy of a response, it has nothing to do with anything written above, doesn’t apply to the conversation or have any relationship to it whatsoever.

              Like an AI Chatbot wrote it.

              When you think of something pertinent to say troll, let me know.

              1. “Your comment isn’t even worthy of a response”

                Yet you comment anyway. Grow some Pom Poms.

    2. * Z appears to willingly say most anything. He doesn’t care. Just look at what he was willing to do and that’s what he is. Just a very rich kid making up shit.

      1. Don’t talk if you don’t understand the comment you’re responding to. Your comments a waste of time.

  19. One question. If you were the head of a Mexican cartel who would you want to be President, Trump or Harris?
    The cartels are billions of dollars happy with an open border. They not only get billions of dollars but all the twelve year old girls they want courtesy of the Biden/Harris Administration. According to Machiavelli hearts of stone are required to remain in power.

    1. TiT,
      You could say the same thing for Putin, Iran, Hamas, the Houthis, and China. Who benefits more from a Trump admin or a Harris admin?

  20. So now Kamala wants to build that wall. Kamala has never heard of the phrase speak softly and carry a big stick. It’s simple. Mexico, stop the cartels or the money will dry up. That will get their attention because it did when Trump was President. The noise from the fake concern is deafening. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-103795

    1. @Thinitthrough – Zelig Harris is parroting President Trumps position as if she’s a new Dem candidate who primaried other candidates, acts as if she’s not the current VP and fought vigorously against the administration’s policies. Sadly there are those who are buying Zelig’s transformation.

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