Biden video : Any evaluation of Joe Biden’s performance last week hits a snag. While it was terrible from beginning to end, picking which moment was the very worst is difficult.
Michael Goodwin: Biden’s Big Tech gaffe – how the administration’s actions are endangering the First Amendment
Was it the president’s most recent attack on state voting-law improvements, which he weirdly referred to as “the most crucial test of our democracy since the Civil War”?
Was it the White House’s absurd invitation to the UN’s privileged popinjays to sit in judgement on America’s racial strife?
Perhaps it was Biden’s decision to advocate for a trillion-dollar one-party spending splurge even as inflation reached its highest level in 13 years?
Each of those occurrences would be considered a low point under practically any administration. However, Biden is proving to be extraordinarily bad at his job, and he did something else this week that wins the Worst of the Worst title.
On Friday, President Trump accused Facebook of “killing lives” and demanded that it suppress critics of the coronavirus immunizations.
This is a stunning claim and demand coming from the president.
It vastly beyond everything Trump has ever said or done. Trump incorrectly labelled some members of the media as “enemies of the people,” but never accused them of “killing people.”
But Biden has acted rashly, assuming that the lapdog news media will back him up.
Notably, Facebook’s defence is that it is attempting to silence as many people who question or condemn vaccines as possible.
That isn’t exactly a justification of free speech, but it does illustrate that Big Tech supports Biden’s agenda. They only differ in terms of success rates.
The frightening strategy was originally revealed in a Politico piece on Wednesday regarding White House intentions to combat “misinformation” about COVID immunizations.
“Biden affiliated groups, including the Democratic National Committee, are also intending to engage fact-checkers more aggressively and work with SMS providers to dispute disinformation about vaccines that is spread through social media and text messaging,” according to the piece.
Nellie, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa Will the White House and the DNC monitor social media and private text communications in order to “dispel misinformation”? And work with “fact checkers” who are genetically corrupt?
This couldn’t possibly be real, I thought.
As a result, the government is not only “flagging” those it doesn’t like, but it is also assisting in the “boost” of “trusted material.”
Regrettably, this is correct. Jen Psaki, whose job as press secretary entails making the bizarre sound routine, expounded on the plan on Thursday and confirmed that it is now in effect.
“We’re flagging posts on Facebook that disseminate disinformation within the Surgeon General’s Office,” Psaki stated.
“We’re collaborating with doctors and medical professionals to connect medical specialists with people who are popular with their audiences and enhance trustworthy content, so we’re assisting in the distribution of trusted content.”
As a result, the government is not only “flagging” those it doesn’t like, but it is also assisting in the “boost” of “trusted material.”
“It’s critical to respond quickly against dangerous posts,” Psaki continued. “As you all know, information spreads swiftly on social media platforms; nevertheless, it isn’t always correct, and Facebook needs to move faster to remove detrimental violative posts.”
Former Trump White House staffers criticise the Biden administration for attempting to restrict information on Facebook.
Her terms, “not truthful” and “harmful violative posts,” are so broad that they give the government free reign to force Facebook and other social media firms to remove nearly anything the White House doesn’t like.
It might start with COVID conflicts, but why should it end there? Let’s imagine there’s a storey about, oh, let’s say the president’s son’s international business activities, which also implicates the president.
Is there any chance that Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and other social media platforms will be pressured to prevent the news from being shared? Does any of this ring a bell?
Or, to put it another way, how about the fact that today’s COVID “misinformation” is tomorrow’s approved “information”?
Remember that government officials, especially the unreliable weathervane, Dr. Anthony Fauci, have changed their minds so many times that it’s difficult to know what the most recent official line is.
If that wasn’t terrible enough, Psaki went even farther on Friday, claiming that users who are banned from one social networking platform should also be barred from others. Her suggestion effectively pushes firms to enact a unified ban against nationals of the United States.
In addition to Biden’s harsh statement, her remarks and the government’s actions demonstrate that we are on a dangerous path.
One illustration of the potential consequences currently exists. Big Tech stopped The Washington Post’s expose on Hunter Biden’s laptop in October for two key weeks during the presidential election.
A poll afterwards revealed that most voters were unaware of the reports, with 8% claiming that if they had learned the truth, they would have voted differently.
Private corporations imposed the prohibition for partisan reasons. Consider what would happen if the government demanded the blackout, as it does now with vaccines and who knows what else.
The right to disagree with the government is protected by the First Amendment. However, two factors are combining to make this a very frightening time.
To begin with, the Big Tech platforms are so large that they effectively function as monopolies.
They have virtually absolute power to shape events when they work together as one, as they did in putting an end to the Hunter Biden rumours. They even silenced Trump when he was president, which is still going on.
Second, some Democrats and other members of the left subscribe to the cancel culture’s practise of stifling criticism.
What began on college campuses has spread across the country, with even huge corporations declaring that certain ordinary conflicts are intolerable and must be prohibited.
And now the government is endorsing these trends and attempting to bring them together.
Biden’s demand to social media companies bears an implied threat of government compulsion, so the endeavour isn’t just a suggestion.
As a result, the administration is working to repeal the First Amendment and seize control of private businesses. Even for Biden, that’s a new low.
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