America has a First Amendment in the first place because of the Founders’ experience with European elites trying to crush free speech. But Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) wants to import European elites’ censorship here, as he is demanding Big Tech step up its censorship during the Hamas-Israel conflict—in accord with anti-free speech European Union demands.
Sen. Bennet wrote an Oct. 17 letter to the CEOs of four Big Tech companies: Shou Zi Chew (TikTok), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta—Facebook/Instagram), Elon Musk (X/Twitter), and Sundar Pichai (Google/YouTube). In it, Bennet hysterically accused the tech companies of allowing and amplifying “deceptive content” after cutting back on censorship staff.
(As we know from COVID-19, Big Tech censors and government officials are never wrong about what’s true and what’s “misinformation.”)
The senator also approvingly referenced censorship requests from the European Union (EU), which arrogantly threatened several social media companies about censoring more in accordance with the Digital Services Act (DSA) last week.
Related: Medieval EU Censorship Regime Goes Into Full Effect
Bennet began his letter by citing examples of alleged misinformation circulating online, including claims that “Ukraine had supplied weapons to Hamas.” He insisted that video game footage and videos from previous conflicts had confused people online. And, of course, the senator isn’t aiming for users to filter information for themselves—he is calling on Big Tech to control the narrative online. Because who cares about the First Amendment?
“In many cases, your platforms’ algorithms have amplified this content, contributing to a dangerous cycle of outrage, engagement, and redistribution,” Bennet accused in the letter. He mourned the alleged fact that platforms are offloading censorship tasks, having third parties doing the “fact-checking and content moderation,” the latter being another term for censorship. Bennet particularly slammed X (Twitter) for cutting its election censorship and “Trust and Safety” teams. He also highlighted how Meta ended almost 200 moderators’ contracts and cut other “trust, integrity, and responsibility” staff. Google reduced their “hate speech and disinformation” tools, Bennet added.
How tragic that there should be fewer censors quashing free speech! Of course, there are still enough censors that Facebook was able to fact-check me recently, asserting there’s “no evidence” that Hamas decapitated Israeli babies (they’re wrong). On the topic of Meta censors, actor Nate Buzolic said recently that Instagram censored his pro-Israel posts exposing Hamas atrocities. And Bennet wants MORE of this?
He certainly does. “These decisions [to cut moderators] contribute to a cascade of violence, paranoia, and distrust around the world,” asserted Bennet. He accused the tech platforms of legitimizing “untrustworthy sources.” He even worried that a Pew research poll showed adults under 30 trust information on social media about as much as they trust “reputable” news outlets. Of course, “reputable” news outlets are usually unreliable or outright dishonest. But Bennet seems to be concerned that elites control the narrative, rather than that users should do their own research.
Bennet approvingly mentioned last week’s letters from an EU politician. EU commissioner Thierry Breton warned Meta, TikTok, and X that lack of compliance with increased censorship requests and planned coordination with government officials to crush speech would result in “penalties.”
Having mentioned the EU, Bennet added his own censorship pressure. He requested information from the tech companies on how much Hamas-Israel content they have removed, how many of said deleted pieces of content were identified by “content moderation systems,” and whether the platforms have new “policies, procedures, or resources” in response to the war in Israel. He also requested to know the number of employees each company has working to censor content, what automated “moderation systems” they have, and how “violent” and “terrorist” content or “hate speech” and “misleading content” is being addressed. Bennet’s questions constitute direct pressure from a government official to censor vaguely defined content.
Keep your hands off our First Amendment rights, Bennet. If there is anything we learned over the past few years, it’s that government officials and Big Tech are dishonest and power-hungry and should not be controlling our online speech.
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