Posted on 08/29/2021 4:16:28 PM PDT by thegagline
Twitter has permanently suspended former New York Times journalist and author Alex Berenson, a critic of coronavirus lockdowns and mandates, from its platform.
"The account you referenced has been permanently suspended for repeated violations of our COVID-19 misinformation rules," a Twitter spokesperson told Fox News in response to an inquiry Saturday night.
On his Substack page, Berenson subsequently posted a brief message, just over 152 characters, titled, "Goodbye Twitter."
"This was the tweet that did it," he wrote, above a screenshot of his account before it was taken down. "Entirely accurate. I can’t wait to hear what a jury will make of this."
In that tweet, he wrote that the coronavirus vaccine does not stop infection or transmission.
"Don’t think of it as a vaccine," he continued. "Think of it – at best – as a therapeutic with a limited window of efficacy and terrible side effect profile that must be dosed IN ADVANCE OF ILLNESS."
The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention say that COVID-19 vaccines "are safe and effective" following tens of thousands of clinical trials and that side effects are rare.
Berenson, 48, made national headlines last year for his criticism coronavirus lockdowns and mandates, drawing the ire of Big Tech, the mainstream media and others who sought to bury his writing.
In a December op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Berenson warned that the COVID-19 pandemic had ushered in "a new age of censorship and suppression."
"Information has never been more plentiful or easier to distribute. Yet we are sliding into a new age of censorship and suppression, encouraged by technology giants and traditional media companies. As someone who’s been falsely characterized as a coronavirus ‘denier,’" he wrote at the time. "I have seen this crisis firsthand."
At that time, he had just finished battling with Amazon over a dispute over his own self-published books.
"Since June, Amazon has twice tried to suppress self-published booklets I have written about Covid-19 and the response to it," he continued. "These booklets don’t contain conspiracy theories. Like the scientists who wrote the Great Barrington Declaration, I simply believe many measures to control the coronavirus have been damaging, counterproductive and unsupported by science."
Berenson worked at the New York Times from 1999 until 2010, before becoming a full-time novelist. He also published nonfiction, including a controversial 2019 book that argued against the legalization of marijuana.
I’d rather see the free market do that than the government.
His presidency was filled with moles and deep state. He was betrayed from the get go, by his own party.
He should have established some strong alternatives to Farcebook and Tweater early on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I remember thinking back in 2016 that he at least should post his tweater comments in a second (friendly) place as it simply was too many communication eggs in one basket.
Alex Berenson saw this coming and moved his stuff to Substack. Link here:
https://alexberenson.substack.com/?utm_source=discover_search
Donald Trump could at this very moment embrace an alternative platform and bring with him millions of followers, both those who admire and loath him.
Yet he hasn't. It's as if he's given up on social media completely.
Damn! I must be dang lucky, I am still alive!
Nothing like violating the Emoluments Clause , while both FB and Twitter are obliged to maintain POTUS accounts.
I like the John Wells series.
Those are the ones I was looking into.
Pretty enjoyable reads? Page turners?
Boost the insanity - by Alex Berenson - Unreported Truths (substack.com)
His reporting doesn’t fit the official narrative, and if the facts contradict the narrative, the facts lie.
I’m an audible listener. I’ve gotten every one of them and enjoyed them. It is one of the series I devour as soon as a new book is released… kind of like the Daniel Silva books.
Cool, thanks for the response and info.
If you still have a Twitter account you are responsible for Twitter being able to black list people over unproven conjecture. Both sides of the covid argument are unproven.
“Think of it – at best – as a therapeutic with a limited window of efficacy and terrible side effect profile that must be dosed IN ADVANCE OF ILLNESS.”
It’s getting so we can tell who is parroting which influencer by what they repeat in the chat.
Besides Berenson being wrong about vaccines, (just as he was wrong in so many of the stories he wrote for NYT and the Hill) to respond to his talking point above, monoclonals and folk remedies like ivermectin, hcq or vit c, and zinc, are also used primarily in advance of illness and have a markedly narrow efficacy.
Vit c can’t prevent covid alone, zinc can’t either. HCQ keeps getting tossed from studies in favor of alternates.
Monoclonals are very temporary, like fix-a-flat, and can have some pretty hairy side effects. And if the number of calls to poison control centers and ER visits for ivermectin horse paste overdose are any indication, so does ivermectin, which, at best guestimate is only about 70^ effective on wild virus and nobody knows on Delta virus.
So Berenson had a pretty weak argument at best, or is intentionally deceptive to get monitized views at worst.
you can say that again...again.
“Think of it – at best – as a therapeutic with a limited window of efficacy and terrible side effect profile that must be dosed IN ADVANCE OF ILLNESS.”
That is not true. You can’t preclude customers from a bar, restaurant, bakery or a club based on a difference of opinion. That applies to FB Twit et al. They have a specific exemption carved out for the purpose of serving THE Party.
That is an abomination in a country with first amendment protections.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.