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Democrats revealed their clear disregard for free speech in the second hearing of the Select Weaponization Committee.
The Federalist ^ | March 9, 2023 | Tristan Justice

Posted on 03/11/2023 7:40:12 AM PST by Twotone

Democrats revealed their clear disregard for free speech in the second hearing of the Select Committee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government Thursday that featured prominent journalists who published the “Twitter Files.”

Substack reporters Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger testified in the nearly three-hour hearing and explained how the federal government uses major social media platforms as conduits to regulate speech through censorship. Both voted for President Joe Biden and possess decades of experience covering American politics with liberal backgrounds far from anything that could be considered “ultra MAGA.”

“American taxpayers are unwittingly financing the growth and power of a censorship industrial complex run by America’s scientific and technological elite, which endangers our liberties and democracy,” Shellenberger said in his opening statement. “The censorship industrial complex combines established methods of psychological manipulation, some developed by the U.S. military during the global war on terror with highly sophisticated tools from computer science.”

“We learned Twitter, Facebook, Google, and other companies developed a formal system for taking in moderation requests from every corner of government, from the FBI, the DHS, the HHS, DoD, the Global Engagement Center at State, even the CIA,” said Taibbi. “A focus of this fast-growing network, as Mike noted, is making lists of people whose opinions, beliefs, associations or sympathies are deemed misinformation, disinformation, or malinformation. That last term is just a euphemism for ‘true but inconvenient.'”

Taibbi called such lists a form of “digital McCarthyism,” with users de-platformed from social media sites and payment processors.

The “Twitter Files” exposed how the government manipulates public opinion by way of censorship campaigns that place pressure on Big Tech to promote a monolithic narrative. Taibbi and Shellenberger testified how the government did so on both the Hunter Biden laptop and reporting on the novel Wuhan coronavirus...

(Excerpt) Read more at thefederalist.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bigtech; censorship; democrats; freespeech; govtweaponization; internet; shellenberger; socialmedia; taibbi; twitter; weaponization

1 posted on 03/11/2023 7:40:12 AM PST by Twotone
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To: Twotone

Idiots. They will be censored in the future by the government.


2 posted on 03/11/2023 7:44:28 AM PST by alternatives?
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To: Twotone

That hearing showed a real picture of how democrats are perpetual grenade tossers. Every statement pulls the pin. The less the merits of their words, the more they toss those grenades.


3 posted on 03/11/2023 7:45:25 AM PST by blackdog ((Z28.310) Forget "Global Warming", new grants are for "Galaxy Dimming")
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To: Twotone

Ah, yes, the “Federalist”.

Pro tip: It’s dead, and it’s not coming back.

That Jacob Charnley was not released from prison with charges dismissed by 9:30 Tuesday night tells you the Constitution is dead, and dead a long time.

Time to move on.


4 posted on 03/11/2023 7:45:44 AM PST by Jim Noble (You have sat too long for any good you have been doing)
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To: Twotone

Is there any aspect of our Constitution and the Bill of Rights that the democrats/Commies don’t have complete contempt and disregard for?

I mean this in all seriousness.


5 posted on 03/11/2023 7:46:20 AM PST by Howie66 (Let's Go Brandon!!)
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To: Twotone

By now, we cannot deny that democrats have no regard for the constitution and wish it to be dear or completely irrelevant.

They demonstrate their hostility towards our rights every day.

Democrats are all about their socialist agenda, and the constitution and our rights are getting in their way.

Let’s stop being surprised about their attitude, and the only surprise should be when democrats stand up for the constitution. And, when they say they respect the constitution, it’s a big fat lie.


6 posted on 03/11/2023 7:48:27 AM PST by adorno
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To: Twotone

The Democrats launched a bizarre attempt to discredit Taibbi, proving that they don’t care about free speech unless it’s theirs. They revealed themselves as totalitarians.


7 posted on 03/11/2023 7:51:44 AM PST by popdonnelly (All the enormous crimes in history have been committed by governments.)
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To: Twotone

The Democrats launched a bizarre attempt to discredit Taibbi, proving that they don’t care about free speech unless it’s theirs. They revealed themselves as totalitarians.


8 posted on 03/11/2023 7:52:01 AM PST by popdonnelly (All the enormous crimes in history have been committed by governments.)
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To: Twotone

Federal bureaucrats should not be telling us what the truth is. That’s authoritarianism. Bureaucrats includes Anthony Fauci.


9 posted on 03/11/2023 7:53:10 AM PST by popdonnelly (All the enormous crimes in history have been committed by governments.)
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To: popdonnelly

Debbie Wasserman-Schultz is nuts

she asks Matt Tiabbi a complicated timeline question (probably a set-up), and when he pauses a few seconds to think it over to make sure he’s got the right answer, she accuses him of deliberately trying to waste her questioning time


10 posted on 03/11/2023 8:00:59 AM PST by canuck_conservative (if Russia could just stop attacking its neighbors, we wouldn't need NATO anymore)
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To: Twotone

Bkmk


11 posted on 03/11/2023 8:06:44 AM PST by sauropod (“If they don’t believe our lies, well, that’s just conspiracy theorist stuff, there.”)
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To: Twotone

They are for totalitarianism.


12 posted on 03/11/2023 8:15:49 AM PST by ifinnegan (Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: Twotone

democrats are street thugs. If one desires a child murdered, contact democrats. If one desires a virus to kill off the population, contact democrats. democrats are exclusively about control and murder. democrats are chaos and practice no self control. democrats hate everyone and when democrats pretend to care, only the most ignorant believe democrats


13 posted on 03/11/2023 8:18:24 AM PST by no-to-illegals (The enemy has US surrounded. May God have mercy on them.)
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To: Howie66

Is there any aspect of our Constitution and the Bill of Rights that the democrats/Commies don’t have complete contempt and disregard for?

I mean this in all seriousness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unfortunately, the answer is no. They despise it all. It’s standing in the way of their communist utopia.


14 posted on 03/11/2023 8:24:44 AM PST by mlitefan (Long time lurker...)
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To: Twotone
We learned Twitter, Facebook, Google, and other companies developed a formal system for taking in moderation requests from every corner of government, from the FBI, the DHS, the HHS, DoD, the Global Engagement Center at State, even the CIA

Which makes them by default "Publishers" and should immediately nullify any and all immunity claims under section 230 and they should be held liable in any action against them
15 posted on 03/11/2023 8:53:25 AM PST by eyeamok (founded in cynicism, wrapped in sarcasm)
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To: Twotone

The censorship industrial complex combines established methods of psychological manipulation.

Indeed many who voted bad in the last two elections have something to think about now the damage has been done.

All the things that has changed from then is a warning of much worse to come if they don’t wise up.


16 posted on 03/11/2023 9:51:24 AM PST by Vaduz (LAWYERS )
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To: eyeamok
 
 
In the not too distant past, posting something like that would have gotten you a lecture - probably from a gov troll - about how they were private companies, exercising control over their property/service, etc and so forth. Don't see those folk around here anymore do you.
 
 

17 posted on 03/11/2023 10:41:13 AM PST by lapsus calami (What's that stink? Code Pink ! ! And their buddy Murtha, too!)
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To: Vaduz
Indeed many who voted bad in the last two elections have something to think about now the damage has been done.

Can somebody explain how both witnesses voted for Biden but they helped to expose twitter censorship? How do they reconcile those two acts?

18 posted on 03/11/2023 11:41:14 AM PST by ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas (Re-imagine the media!)
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To: ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas
Can somebody explain how both witnesses voted for Biden but they helped to expose twitter censorship? How do they reconcile those two acts?

My guess would be that they are both independent honest REAL journalists as opposed to the bought and paid for LSM garden variety type.

I have a feeling that they may just regret voting for Biden.

19 posted on 03/11/2023 12:00:15 PM PST by Lakeside Granny (Vote RED~R.emove E.very D.emocrat~D&S)
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To: Lakeside Granny

Maybe they swallowed some of the TDS lies. That is, they honestly thought twitter was badly misbehaving, but they believed that Trump was worse. Who knows.


20 posted on 03/11/2023 12:18:39 PM PST by ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas (Re-imagine the media!)
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