Free Speech Online - Page 12

A study from New York University claiming that there is no anti-conservative bias from major technology companies was funded by a pro-Biden tech billionaire and drafted in consultation with employees from Google and Facebook.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced a major push to curb Big Tech’s political bias and censorship today, with measures including a ban on the censorship of political candidates and mandatory opt-outs of content filters for citizens of the Sunshine State.

Poland’s new Freedom Act against Big Tech censorship will see members of the public automatically notified of “shadowbans” and empowered to overturn restrictions if their speech online is lawful.

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently criticized polarization on social media, further intensifying the conflict between Apple and Facebook. According to Cook, “At a moment of rampant disinformation and conspiracy theories juiced by algorithms, we can no longer turn a blind eye to a theory of technology that says all engagement is good engagement — the longer the better — and all with the goal of collecting as much data as possible.”

The Facebook oversight board, popularly known as the “Facebook Supreme Court,” the body established by the company to check its content moderation decisions, has ruled on its first cases.

Google-owned YouTube took down several videos from the channel of Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI). The videos were from a Senate hearing on coronavirus treatments, featuring a doctor testifying about the use of the medicine Ivermectin in cases of the Chinese virus.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently stated that the social media giant would be reducing the amount of political content on its platforms and in its news feeds to channel users towards more “healthy communities.” Zuckerberg also said that he wants “clear guidance and clear rules for the Internet,” and is in favor of updating Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA).

Google-owned video platform YouTube has once again extended its suspension of former President Donald Trump’s account on the platform. In a related move, Youtube also removed Rudy Giuliani from its Partner Program, which allows creators to earn ad revenue from their videos.

Twitter has permanently banned Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow and one of former President Donald Trump’s staunchest supporters in the business world.

Social media giant Twitter has announced a new feature called “Birdwatch” which aims to encourage users to police and flag each other’s tweets if they believe they spread misinformation. The company claims it wants to “broaden the range of voices” fighting against misinformation, but the feature has the potential to devolve into flagging wars between different factions of users.

Allum Bokhair appeared on the Trevor Carey show to discuss Silicon Valley’s tightening grip on American politics.

Breitbart News senior technology correspondent Allum Bokhari appeared on the Mark Levin Show on the Westwood One podcast network to discuss his book, DELETED: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal the Election.

Poland’s Deputy Justice Minister has called on the U.S. to protect “every citizen” from Big Tech censorship on social media, as his own country prepares new laws enforcing free speech standards online.

Britain’s Socialist Workers Party (SWP) was censored from Facebook on Friday, as Silicon Valley tech giants turn their censorship apparatus upon the radical left in the U.S. and the UK.

Facebook has stated that it is sending its recent decision to permanently blacklist Donald Trump to its “independent oversight board” for review. The oversight board, popularly referred to as the platform’s “supreme court,” is packed with leftists such as the former editor-in-chief of the Guardian and a “human rights expert” who is part of George Soros’ Open Society Foundations.

House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) is requesting that the FBI probe the social media platform Parler, claiming that it may have played a role in the Capitol Hill riot earlier this month.

Parler claims that Amazon deliberately left a security hole open, giving hackers the ability to target the social media platform’s inner workings.

Social media upstart MeWe has enjoyed explosive growth in the past week, adding 2.5 million members as more Americans become wary of Big Tech platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

The Google-owned video platform YouTube has reportedly extended its ban on Donald Trump’s account by at least a week.

Tech giant Facebook reportedly still has no plans to lift Donald Trump’s suspension from the site, even after he leaves the White House. 

Michelle Malkin, Right Side Broadcasting Network (RSBN) and the Gateway Pundit have all been locked out of their Twitter accounts for 24 hours for violations of Twitter’s “civic integrity” policy.

The Associated Press is targeting tech companies that host decentralized podcast marketplaces, including Apple and Google, alleging that they host “extremist” content — and the AP includes President Trump’s statements under that umbrella term.

Tech giant Apple is reportedly being sued by a Washington nonprofit group in federal court that is demanding that the company remove the encrypted messaging app Telegram from its app store.

The investigative journalism group Project Veritas recently published insider footage of Twitter’s Legal, Policy, and Trust Lead discussing plans for Twitter’s expansion of moderation enforcement on a global scale. Progressive Twitter exec Vijaya Gadde described applying the company’s “global approach” to America’s political leaders, reaffirming the company’s believe that President Donald Trump’s posts were “inciting violence and having real-world harm.”

In a recent article, the New York Times provides an insight into Twitter’s decision to ban President Donald Trump from its platform permanently. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, on vacation in French Polynesia, approved the decision under intense pressure from the company’s extreme leftist executives. Employees reportedly compared the platform allowing Trump to tweet to IBM collaborating with the Nazis.

In a recent article, NBC News provides an insight into the moments leading up to the decision by Facebook and Twitter to blacklist President Donald Trump. One Facebook executive betrayed the depth of progressive groupthink amongst the Silicon Valley Masters of the Universe when they reported said: “We don’t have a policy for what to do when a sitting president starts a coup.”

Parler says in a legal filing that a representative from Amazon Web Services (AWS) had “repeatedly asked whether the President had joined or would join Parler now that he was blocked by Twitter and Facebook.”

The popular timed photo-sharing app Snapchat has reportedly permanently banned President Trump’s account on the platform.

The CEO of Parler says that his social media platform may never get back online after major service providers accused it of failing to crack down on free speech in order to police content that may “incite violence.”

In a recent thread on his own platform, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey discussed the recent suspension of President Donald Trump, stating that while he believes it was the right decision it may have set a dangerous precedent.

Twitter claims that it has made an “error” in blacklisting the Students for Trump Twitter account on Wednesday. The suspension of the Pro-Trump student group has been reversed.

The Republican Study Committee, the largest ideological caucus in the House of Representatives with 125 members, is making tech censorship a priority following the mass banning of conservatives including President Donald Trump in recent days.

Google-owned YouTube announced on Tuesday that it is suspending President Donald Trump’s channel “in light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence,” adding that the ability to comment on the President’s YouTube channel will be disabled “indefinitely.”

In addition to banning President Donald Trump, social media companies are purging grassroots activists and organizers from their platforms as well, in what has become the widest-reaching big tech crackdown to date.

Twitter has reportedly banned more than 70,000 accounts it claims are linked to the QAnon movement following the events on Capitol Hill last week.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg says that the social media company has “no plans” to lift its ban on President Donald Trump.