Free Republic

Donald Trump wants to regulate social media, while Democrats want to regulate political spending. Both are prepared to sacrifice freedom of speech on the altar of fairness, balance and equality. The president's plan for fighting anti-conservative bias on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook is still in flux. But it reportedly includes siccing the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission on companies that are deemed to be removing content for political or ideological reasons. According to a summary of a proposed executive order obtained by CNN, one possible approach involves reinterpreting Section 230 of the Communications...

Washington (CNN Business)A draft executive order from the White House could put the Federal Communications Commission in charge of shaping how Facebook (FB), Twitter (TWTR) and other large tech companies curate what appears on their websites, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. The draft order, a summary of which was obtained by CNN, calls for the FCC to develop new regulations clarifying how and when the law protects social media websites when they decide to remove or suppress content on their platforms. Although still in its early stages and subject to change, the Trump administration's draft order also calls for the Federal Trade Commission...

Shortly after the Chinese New Year holiday in February, the People's Daily, the Communist Party's flagship newspaper, reported with a celebratory tone that domestic retail and restaurant spending during the festival had topped 1 trillion yuan ($145 billion) for the first time. Against the backdrop of the trade war with the U.S., this result "defied doomsayers," the paper said, and continued a string of annual gains in consumer prowess that showed China's sustained economic strength. Foreign media reports this year, however, have been portraying a starkly contrasting picture of Chinese economic slowdown as seen in declining gross domestic product growth...

With conservative freedom of speech under attack across social media platforms like YouTube, Twitter, and Pinterest, social media giant Facebook has begun directly attacking conservative groups, individuals, and content under the guise of shielding users from false content and hate speech. Carole Quattro Levine, founder of the Facebook-based conservative media site “Flyover Culture,” is among the latest, but not nearly the first victim of Facebook’s crackdown. According to Levine, Facebook’s censorship arose after sites such as her own “stunned the political world in 2016” by empowering like-minded conservatives often overlooked by coastal political elites and mainstream media, and thus ushering...

On the campaign trail this week the struggle for the Democratic presidential nomination continued to generate loony ideas. New Jersey Sen Cory Booker’s campaign director for New Hampshire, Erin Turmelle, demanded an end to Trump rallies, calling them “a breeding ground for racism and bigotry. They are despicable and have no place in New Hampshire, or anywhere in our country. That’s why Trump must cancel all future rallies.” She rejected criticism calling the demand a violation of Trump’s freedom of speech, saying that “there is no freedom for hate speech” and suggested that Trump “campaign like a normal Republican candidate....

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his allies are embracing a fight with the media and Twitter that has struck a nerve among Republicans. Taking fierce criticism over election security, a series of campaign imbroglios and the GOP leader’s response to two mass shootings, the normally tightlipped McConnell and his team have repeatedly punched back at what they view as unfair coverage and leaned into a fight with the social media giant. Those tensions, which had been simmering for weeks, erupted on Thursday after the McConnell campaign found itself locked out of Twitter after it shared a video of...

August 7, 2019 (NewsBusters) — The left has no problem with hiding behind activist teenagers, but will scapegoat a right-wing one if she criticizes them. YouTube, Google's sister company, deplatformed a 14-year-old conservative girl after she made a video criticizing Pride Month. Her channel has been completely banned from YouTube. Soph, known on Twitter as @sewernugget, has been penalized by YouTube previously with suspension for "dangerous" humor and poking fun at leftist orthodoxy. With approximately 1 million subscribers before she was shut down, she rose to fame for poking fun at topics such as radical Islam, climate change, and pedophilia...

The White House is reportedly exploring potential executive action President Trump could take to address his and other Republicans' allegations of anti-conservative bias among social media companies. Politico reported Wednesday that the White House has circulated a draft proposal, though it is unclear what exactly the order would do or how it would target tech companies. One source told the outlet that the details of the proposal remain in flux. "If the internet is going to be presented as this egalitarian platform and most of Twitter is liberal cesspools of venom, then at least the president wants some fairness in...

Lila Rose, president of Live Action, was in the White House on Thursday to talk about censorship and Big Tech’s attempts to mute the spread of pro-life information with President Donald Trump. Live Action, one of the pro-life movement’s biggest and most influential companies, has run into issues across social media. They’re well known for their videos describing abortion procedures, undercover clinic videos in Planned Parenthood locations, and other materials that support a pro-life worldview. Pinterest removed its account and, when other users attempt to pin content from the organization, the content is placed on the same lists as pornographic...

Four fans were escorted out of Oriole Park at Camden Yards after unfurling a pro-Donald Trump banner during Thursday’s game between the Orioles and Blue Jays, according to a Baltimore Sun report. The red, white and blue banner, which supported Trump’s reelection campaign, bore the messages “Keep America Great!” and “Trump 2020.” It was unfurled during the eighth inning of the Orioles’ 11-2 loss.

July 31, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – A little over one week ago, Apple approved LifeSiteNews’ application to publish our news on their Apple News platform. Today, without warning, Apple News abruptly reversed course, telling LifeSite that they had deleted our channel and all of our content from their platform. Apple claimed that LifeSite’s channel “didn't comply with our Apple News guidelines.” Specifically, they stated that LifeSite’s “[c]hannel content shows intolerance towards a specific group.” Apple’s e-mail provided no details about which content they deemed offensive, or which “specific group” LifeSite’s content allegedly showed intolerance towards. LifeSite has reached out to Apple...

The Wall Street Journal has a story today about a former Google engineer named Kevin Cernekee. Cernekee, who hasn’t told his story publicly before, claims that he was fired last year after battling they company for years over his conservative views. Before moving to the Bay Area in 2015 to work on Google’s laptop lines, Mr. Cernekee says, the region’s dominant liberalism struck him as “just like something to occasionally read online and laugh at. At Google, I jumped right into the middle of it, where, holy crap, these people actually exist.”Early on, he stood up for a colleague...

A law in Ann Arbor could force a Democrat to write speeches for President Donald Trump or a pro-life artist to create a mural for Planned Parenthood. On Tuesday, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a lawsuit on behalf of a conservative political consulting firm, warning that an Ann Arbor non-discrimination law would force that firm to parrot liberal messages and help Democrats get elected. If they refuse, they could get hit with fines of $500 per day. ADF is representing Grant Strobl and Jacob Chludzinski, founders of the company ThinkRight Strategies. "On the face of the law, it is illegal...

A Congressional candidate who is challenging Rep. Justin Amash, a recently-turned Michigan Independent, has been banned from Instagram. Tom Norton received the following message from the Facebook-owned platform:

I was shadowbanned on foxnews.com. This led me on a fascinating journey of discovery on how commenting on foxnews.com is making Google's algorithm's smarter, and making it easier to suppress conservative views in the future. Quick IntroI shouldn't be writing this right now. I have "work-work" to do, but this has been weighing on me all day. So I'm going to crank out a quick write-up, without FULL analysis, but will show you how you can get the same data for yourself so you can analyze your own comment history. This is not insider info, but it might as well...

As we have been saying for years now, Big Tech’s brazen anti-Christian and anti-Conservative thought policing must stop. Earlier this week, YouTube rightfully came under fire when the proprietors of a faith-based ministry for military veterans were barred from running an ad for their foundation because it contained just one unacceptable keyword: “Christian.” According to Chad Robichaux, a U.S. Marine veteran and founder of the Mighty Oaks Foundation, his marketing team recently attempted to run the ad for his “Mighty Oaks Show,” which features interviews with vets and Christian content geared toward their unique strengths and struggles after service. But,...

China is now the big player in global cinema. “The Chinese film market is going to be the largest film market in short order,” Charles Rivkin, the new chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), said on a conference call with reporters. “They’re building about 25 screens a day.” Last year, more movie tickets were sold in China than in North America. American studios are desperate to capitalize on this growth by overturning the Chinese government’s edict that a maximum of only 34 American films a year can play on Chinese big screens. At the same time, they...

I received this e-mail last night, and have been corresponding with its author. He is who he says he is — I looked him up online. He gave me permission to publish this as long as I took out his name and identifying details. You’ll see below where I did this. I read your most recent column about how white liberals are on the forefront of the racial grievance bandwagon, and I cannot tell you how spot on you are. I’m a senior executive at [multinational], one of the largest [businesses of its kind] in the world. I’m a military...

Ofcom, Britain's communications watchdog, highlighted seven instances of problematic reporting by the channel. Its handling of the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury played a large part. British communications watchdog Ofcom announced the measure on Friday, after an investigation into RT's coverage of the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine. The fine of £200,000 ($250,000, €220,000) comes eight months after Ofcom launched its investigation into RT. Lack of impartiality Ofcom said RT, formerly known as Russia Today, "failed to preserve due impartiality in seven news and current affairs programs...

any expressions of Christian belief have been censored by YouTube, which is owned by Google. But on Tuesday, even the word “Christian” ran afoul of the social-media giant. Chad Robichaux reported an ad for his ministry to veterans was rejected for including the word “Christian.” Robichaux was instructed to “please remove the unacceptable content to continue.” We ran a @YouTube ad for our veterans ministry outreach for those in need & it was denied for the word “Christian”. Insane! #Censorship should terrify every American; conservative or liberal, Christian or Muslim. This bias is a dangerous course for America. @MightyOaksFDN pic.twitter.com/at5CsAfEht...