Prattville Dragoons Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1524 Commander's Column for November 2022 - Government Censorship of Social Media and WBTS Precedence

Confidence  in the mainstream media as a dependable unbiased news source has plummeted in recent years approximately in proportion to the rise of social media platforms providing an alternative news platform.  The widespread and growing access to the internet provides a worldwide web of information at the fingertips of computer and smartphone users.    Mainstream television networks created their own news websites but increasingly, people are depending on gathering and often sharing real time news stories on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.  This has focused attention on whether these sites can be trusted to provide an unbiased perspective on news stories, thought and opinions.  The current POTUS administration attempted to create a Disinformation Governance Board which although short lived (3 weeks), still apparently exists in their reach into these predominant social media platforms allowing them to label, limit and attempt to discredit opposition perspectives.  This federal government overreach is very similar to Lincoln’s attempts to censor opposition to his War for tariff collection and invasion of the Southern states, jailing editors and shutting down newspapers which dared to print news and opinions opposing his unconstitutional actions. 

“According to the latest data from Pew Research, which incorporates responses from more than 9,200 Americans, around 71% of people now get at least some of their news input from social media platforms.  The results show that social media platforms have now become a critical news source, which is why accuracy is important. If people are making life decisions based on the information served to them on Facebook and Twitter, then it’s important for those platforms to also ensure that the information people see is correct.”  (https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/new-research-shows-that-71-of-americans-now-get-news-content-via-social-pl/593255/ )  This was a January 2021 article and it’s amazing to see how the tail has turned.  The Democrats were up in arms following the January “riots/insurrection” in DC and blamed Twitter and Facebook communications for enabling demonstrators.   The article continues, “People are definitely being informed by what they find on social platforms, and these stats show that its influence cannot be denied. Now it’s a matter of determining what they should be allowed to display, and how you regulate such effectively.”  Astonishing the blatant infringement on free speech in this statement maintaining that there should be regulations on what should be shared on social media platforms.  Elon Musk believed that there was a certain bias in what was permitted on Twitter and it prompted him to pursue his purchase of the social media giant and purge the staff of those who banished users including POTUS 45 and others promoting one world order UN human rights initiatives.  He has promised equal access and debate from all perspectives on his new Twitter.

Another Pew research poll later in September 2021 found, “A third of U.S. adults continue to get their news regularly from Facebook, though the exact percentage has slipped from 36% in 2020 to 31% in 2021. This drop reflects an overall slight decline in the number of Americans who say they get their news from any social media platform — a percentage that also fell by 5 percentage points year-over-year, going from 53% in 2020 to a little less than 48%.  The change comes at a time when tech companies have come under heavy scrutiny for allowing misinformation to spread across their platforms, Pew notes. That criticism has ramped up over the course of the pandemic, leading to vaccine hesitancy and refusal. In addition to the one-third of U.S. adults who regularly get their news on Facebook, 22% say they regularly get news on YouTube. Twitter and Instagram are regular news sources for 13% and 11% of Americans, respectively.  Today, 55% of Twitter users regularly get news from its platform.” (https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/20/study-finds-half-of-americans-get-news-on-social-media-but-percentage-has-dropped/ ) Even this article reporting on a poll though has a slanted biased viewpoint claiming an example of misinformation was associated with those who were mRNA COVID vaccination hesitant when it has come to pass that their hesitancy was based on the fact that the mRNA vaccination was a new technology, untested, and  unproven and launched to billions worldwide without the rigorous clinical trials under which such vaccinations and pharmaceuticals undergo.  And it has proven to be of very limited efficacy and medical side effects evidence is growing daily.  Misinformation? 

The federal (and state) government was claiming any opposition to the mRNA vaccinations were guilty of spreading misinformation.  Twitter flagged all such and prohibited related postings.  Now it has come to light that the government actually was largely pulling the marionette strings at Twitter and Facebook.  “Social media giants essentially granted government officials the ability to censor and suppress speech in the name of fighting “misinformation,” by providing them direct access to flag posts and an open line of communication with senior executives, according to a report by The Intercept.  The outlet found that the short-lived Disinformation Governance Board wasn’t the Biden administration’s only attempt at censoring political speech and posts that ran contrary to their preferred narratives.  According to leaked records, meeting minutes, and a lawsuit filed by a pair of Republican attorney generals obtained by The Intercept, top-ranking Biden administration officials seemingly worked hand-in-hand with Big Tech to censor content that the federal government deemed misinformation.  A presentation obtained by The Intercept revealed that Facebook went as far as creating a special portal for the Department of Homeland Security and government partners where they could log in to report “disinformation” directly to the company.  Emails obtained in a federal lawsuit filed by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry over purported collaboration between the government and social media companies to censor or suppress speech indicate what appears to be coordination between dozens of federal administration officials and social media executives on how to address information regarding COVID-19 and a range of other content.  “The discovery provided so far demonstrates that this Censorship Enterprise is extremely broad,” Schmitt and Landry said in a joint statement.  In a request for depositions of several key administration officials, the attorneys general argue that they were directly involved in social media censorship campaigns, especially stories and posts related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights what they assert is an open collusion between the government and social media companies.  During a November 2021 conference, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director Jen Easterly stated: “One could argue we’re in the business of critical infrastructure, and the most critical infrastructure is our cognitive infrastructure, so building that resilience to misinformation and disinformation, I think, is incredibly important.””  (https://www.newsmax.com/politics/censor-information-facebook/2022/11/01/id/1094446/ )  The Biden administration actually created an Orwellian Ministry of Truth, the Disinformation Governance Board.  While it was paused only 3 weeks after it’s launch, the federal governments overreach into policing and disclaiming free speech on these social media platforms persists.  “Both DHS and Meta, the parent company of Facebook declined to comment when asked why the (government portal) “content request system” at facebook.com/xtakedowns/login is still active.”  Lincoln’s unconstitutional censorship, shutting down newspapers and imprisoning editors across the United States including the Chicago Times and the Washington DC Sunday Chronicle who opposed his War to collect tariffs from Southern states foreshadowed the federal governments tampering with first Amendment freedom of speech and of the press even in the digital age today.