Thus far we have had two posts in this series.

• Part 1, which served as A Review of the Reviews.
• Part 2, which focused on What is Corporate Liberalism?

Here we will talk about the following.

What Exactly Is The Threat Posed By BIG TECH? — Censorship

Senator Josh Hawley deals with the subject of Big Tech censorship in Chapter 7 of his book, and he helps us to understand how Big Tech censorship works.

Hawley focuses on Facebook, Google, and Apple, and he explains how these corporate titans censor Conservative platforms. Their techniques include direct censorship, the manipulation of searches, and determining the profitability of news outlets by controlling their advertising revenues.

Why is it important we read what Hawley has to say? The problem has not gone away, and it won’t go away until we do something to fix it. Hawley’s book just came out this year. Hawley apparently finished his book after Big Tech censored the New York Post’s story about Hunter Biden’s laptop (see Email reveals how Hunter Biden introduced Ukrainian biz man to dad (nypost.com) and Twitter Suspends New York Post Account Over Bombshell Biden Story (thefederalist.com)). What has happened since then?

Using the riot at the Capitol On January 6, 2021 as an excuse, Big Tech even censored President Donald Trump. Their censorship of Trump has continued to this day. So, Trump has taken them to court. Here is his argument for doing so.

One of the gravest threats to our democracy today is a powerful group of Big Tech corporations that have teamed up with government to censor the free speech of the American people. This is not only wrong—it is unconstitutional. To restore free speech for myself and for every American, I am suing Big Tech to stop it.

Social media has become as central to free speech as town meeting halls, newspapers and television networks were in prior generations. The internet is the new public square. In recent years, however, Big Tech platforms have become increasingly brazen and shameless in censoring and discriminating against ideas, information and people on social media—banning users, deplatforming organizations, and aggressively blocking the free flow of information on which our democracy depends.

No longer are Big Tech giants simply removing specific threats of violence. They are manipulating and controlling the political debate itself. Consider content that was censored in the past year. Big Tech companies banned users from their platforms for publishing evidence that showed the coronavirus emerged from a Chinese lab, which even the corporate media now admits may be true. In the middle of a pandemic, Big Tech censored physicians from discussing potential treatments such as hydroxychloroquine, which studies have now shown does work to relieve symptoms of Covid-19. In the weeks before a presidential election, the platforms banned the New York Post—America’s oldest newspaper—for publishing a story critical of Joe Biden’s family, a story the Biden campaign did not even dispute.

continued => Donald J. Trump: Why I’m Suing Big Tech – WSJ

Here are some articles that describe Trump’s lawsuit.

• Trump’s Lawsuit Is Problematic for Big Tech by Zach Vorhies (townhall.com)
• READ IT: Trump lawsuits against Twitter, Facebook, Google over alleged big tech censorship | Fox News
• Trump’s Big Tech lawsuit has legs and other commentary (nypost.com)
• Trump Launches Class-Action Suits Against Tech Giants Twitter, Facebook, Google | Newsmax.com

Surprisingly, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, admitted that the Biden Administration is working with Facebook to censor those spreading what it calls misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

President Joe Biden on Friday said platforms like Facebook are killing people by allowing Covid-19 vaccine misinformation on their services.

Asked what his message was to platforms like Facebook regarding Covid disinformation, Biden said “They’re killing people.”

“I mean they really, look, the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated, and that’s — they’re killing people,” Biden said on the South Lawn of the White House.

Biden was echoing earlier comments from White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

“We’re dealing with a life or death issue here and so everybody has a role to play in making sure there’s accurate information,” Psaki said. “They’re a private sector company. They’re going to make decisions about additional steps they can take. It’s clear there are more that can be taken.”

Psaki’s comments come one day after she said the Biden administration was flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread misinformation.

continued => Biden on Facebook: ‘They’re killing people’ with vaccine misinformation (cnbc.com)

Here are articles that discuss the ramifications of Psaki’s statement.

• If you care about the First Amendment, this class action is for you | TheHill
• Ted Cruz: Jen Psaki’s Comments About Misinformation Strengthened Trump’s Case Against Big Tech | Video | RealClearPolitics
• Psaki, Conservatives, and Facebook | National Review
• White House Brags About Colluding With Tech Oligarchs To Suppress Dissent (thefederalist.com)

What is the latest. Well, it is a Virginia story related to Winsome Sears (@WinsomeSears) / Twitter, the Twitter account of the Republican Party’s candidate for Lieutenant Governor.

Twitter locked the account for GOP nominee for lieutenant governor Winsome Sears over the weekend. Staff said they were unable to log in for a 72-hour period starting Friday, and visitors to her page received a warning message before being given a link to visit the page.

“We didn’t tweet anything controversial, we haven’t said or done anything, except go to bat for the people of Virginia,” Sears spokesperson Michael Allers told The Virginia Star. “I tried to log in, I was blocked. Another person tried to log in, they were blocked. And we lost access to the account for 72 hours.”

“Caution: This account is temporarily restricted,” a warning on Sears’ page said on Monday morning. “You’re seeing this warning because there has been some unusual activity from this account. Do you still want to view it?”

continued => Twitter Temporarily Locks Winsome Sears’ Account; More Gubernatorial Debates and Ads – The Virginia Star

Twitter’s spokesman has made excuses, claiming that they were not trying to censor Winsome Sears, but most Republicans are skeptical. It is rather obvious that the company is partisan. Was Twitter trying to figure out what they can get away with? Probably.

Here is an additional article: Twitter temporarily restricted Winsome Sears’s account ‘in error’ | 8News (wric.com)

One big point. When we think about censorship, we need to remember the point of it. Censorship is about silencing any opposing views. According to the censors, we are only allowed to think about and repeat the politically correct view. That is why the so-called mainstream news media rarely talks about censorship by Big Tech. It is not politically correct to talk about censorship by Big Tech.

Is it that difficult to believe Big Tech censorship exists? Think about the subject of yesterday’s post. There the author observed the following:

Strange. In all the times I’ve watched TV, I’ve never seen one ad about the to-be-pitied state of babies about to be aborted…no ultrasound images of a baby in utero sucking its thumb. No plea to save the life of a tiny, unborn child. No cry of shame or dismay for the soon-to-be-sucked from the womb little perfectly-formed bundle of human life.

Abortion: Do You Give a Woof? | Prince William-Manassas Family Alliance (familyallianceonline.org)

We all have seen innumerable advertisements seeking sympathy for the sake of abused animals, but almost none for the sake of aborted babies? Why not?

So, what’s next?

What will Part 4 focus on? What exactly is the threat posed by Big Tech? — Addiction and Porn.