Free Republic

While the media and Democrats demonize Parler, and it was de-platformed by Google, Apple, and Amazon, it’s clear that leftist social media giants were a hub for alleged criminal behavior A trove of documents released by the Department of Justice reveals that their investigations leading to arrests in the Capitol riot focused almost entirely on big tech platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, with little to no mentions of Parler. A stunning (to some) revelation that exposes the Left’s claim that Parler was uniquely responsible, and completely destroys big tech’s excuse for their deplatforming. Parler’s success rattled the left,...

A new bill revitalizes the war on terror's favorite slogan in service of forcing tech companies to turn over more user data to the government. The "See Something, Say Something Online Act," introduced by Sen. Joe Manchin (D–W.Va.) and co-sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn (R–Texas), is the latest attack on the federal communications law known as Section 230 as well as freedom of speech and online privacy. The legislation says any interactive computer service provider—that means social media giants, small blogs, podcast hosting services, app stores, consumer review platforms, independent political forums, crowdfunding and Patreon-style sites, dating apps, newsletter services,...

Three Democratic U.S. senators introduced a bill that would limit Section 230, a law that shields online companies from liability over content posted by users, and make the companies more accountable when posts result in harm. Called the SAFE TECH Act, the bill would mark the latest effort to make social media companies like Alphabet Inc’s Google, Twitter Inc and Facebook Inc more accountable for “enabling cyber-stalking, targeted harassment, and discrimination on their platforms,” Senators Mark Warner, Mazie Hirono and Amy Klobuchar said in a statement. In the wake of the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol in Washington,...

Marjorie Taylor Greene and I share the same political party. We share some political views. We don't share all the same political views, God knows, but I don't see how that really makes a difference, do you?The same "cancel" rhetoric used against the freshman from Georgia has been used against Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Doug Collins, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Tom Cotton, and even grandfatherly Mitch McConnell.Let's be clear: Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, Chuck Schumer, and Dick Durbin claim all Republicans are dangerous extremists when it serves their political purpose. Hell, they depicted Paul Ryan murdering an elderly, wheelchair-bound woman...

When embattled freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., took to the U.S. House floor Thursday morning in advance of a chamberwide vote to possibly strip her of all committee assignments, she spoke through a face mask embroidered with that most iconic of all American rallying cries: "FREE SPEECH." Greene thus followed in the footsteps of many others on the right who respond to a domineering and increasingly illiberal ruling class with rote proceduralist appeals to free speech and open discourse -- whether in the context of media/academia-driven "cancel culture," ideologically homogenizing Big Tech censorship or elsewhere. On the merits, it...

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a darling of the left, not just in the news media but in Hollywood and pop culture venues. She's been on the cover of Time, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Bloomberg Businessweek, New York Magazine and the Hollywood Reporter. She is hailed all over for her social media prowess. But at a time when these left-wing venues have expressed a massive panic over misinformation on the internet and the need for fact-checking, they don't seem to feel this way about anything spouted by AOC. In the Feb. 1 CNN "Reliable Sources" newsletter, a top story headline read, "AOC...

The New York Times published an essay on Tuesday detailing a range of recommendations for the Biden administration to adopt to fix the “reality crisis” and “de-radicalize” citizens, including setting up a “reality czar” and “truth commission.” The essay, penned by Times technology columnist Kevin Roose, accuses “millions of Americans” of embracing “hoaxes, lies and collective delusions” before questioning how to unite a country where these millions “have chosen to create their own version of reality.” “I worry that unless the Biden administration treats conspiracy theories and disinformation as the urgent threats they are, our parallel universes will only drift...

A Republican leader has decided to take on Big Tech. It’s high time. While other Republican legislators complain and pontificate about Twitter, Facebook and Google’s interference in our elections and censoring of conservative voices, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared war on the tech giants. DeSantis is proposing legislation that asks the Florida state legislature to impose stiff fines – up to $100,000 per day – on tech companies that “deplatform” political candidates running for office in his state. Candidates like, for instance, Donald Trump.

In a passage in Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, a character named Mike is asked how he went bankrupt. “Gradually,” he replies. “Then all at once.”Such a framing could also describe the raw power of Big Tech, which has been evolving over the last two decades into what can accurately be described as an oligopoly (when a market is dominated entirely by a handful of firms). That power was fully unleashed last month. After playing footsie for the last decade with their massive market and narrative control over America, Big Tech finally shed any pretext of restraint or deference...

A leftist journalist expressed regret about calling for Silicon Valley to censor content after it happened to him. Progressive reporter Jordan Chariton had the change of heart after YouTube took down one of his videos. Chariton’s original advocacy for censorship occurred when he called for Big Tech giants to target anyone who questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election. “EVERY media outlet that pushed this INSANE election fraud conspiracy for clicks should be taken off the air. They’ve incited a Civil War,” Chariton tweeted on January 6, the date of the Capitol breach. However, after YouTube pulled video from...

Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday took aim at the country’s largest technology companies, which he characterized as a group of "monopoly communications platforms" based on the way they have grown to regulate public discourse. "These platforms have changed from neutral platforms that provided Americans with the freedom to speak, to enforcers of preferred narratives," DeSantis said during a press conference. "Consequently, these platforms have played an increasingly decisive role in elections and have negatively impacted Americans who dissent from orthodoxies favored by the big tech cartel." DeSantis targeted tech companies over content moderation, which he equated to political...

Liberals have realized that the massive support for Donald Trump and his views is not going away. As long as freedom of speech survives and distrust of the liberal media persists, Democrats are unable to capture control of the minds of the American people.First they wrongly impeached President Trump for a political speech, and now the Democrats are going full throttle to censor anyone who speaks out for ordinary Americans as Trump did.Newly elected Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is the latest target of this liberal censorship. Despite being sworn in less than merely a month ago, Greene is being...

"You can whiz on my leg but don't tell me it's raining"

Once upon a time, stock trading served as a way for businesses to raise capital and for traders to make investments. If companies flourished, stocks rose and investors made money; if not, stocks fell and investors lost money. This was the way the stock market was intended to function. Over time, however, more and more rules and regulations were added, each to address something that at the time was thought necessary to prevent cheating and manipulation. Just like the proverbial “Road to Hell,” Wall Street became paved with regulatory good intentions. Instead of eradicating cheating, manipulation, and fraud every new...

Flanked by legislators and Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared war Tuesday on a “big tech cartel” that has played fast and loose with Florida’s “public square” for too long, and he issued a series of recommendations that seem destined for fast track legislation this year as the Transparency in Technology Act. “Today they may come after someone who looks like me. Tomorrow they may come after someone who looks like you,” DeSantis warned toward the end of long-form remarks decrying tech companies and vowing action. The Governor, addressing reporters at the State Capitol after Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting,...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference Tuesday to announce the support of legislation to protect social media users' privacy, saying "big tech has come to look more like big brother with each passing day." The governor said the legislation will seek a slew of changes that DeSantis says will protect privacy and censorship by social media platforms. He called out Facebook, Twitter, Google, Apple and Amazon for being "nameless, faceless boards of censors." "Over the years, however, these platforms have changed from neutral platforms that provided Americans with the freedom to speak to enforcers of preferred narratives," DeSantis...

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof recently penned a column titled "A Letter to My Conservative Friends," with the subheading "Hold us accountable, but please do the same for the charlatans who deceive you, use you and cheat you." Kristof doesn't name any conservative friends, so we can't be sure he has any. It's fascinating to insist he holds the cheating, manipulative "charlatans" on the conservative side accountable; this sounds like a fine idea. But Kristof isn't writing from a position of strength. A Nexis database search reveals Kristof has never written anything critical in his two decades of columns...

Dr. Simone Gold lays out the facts on HCH, lying politicians , government officials and big tech dictators who created a pandemic for total control.

“I intend to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives. Andy is well known inside the company and has been at Amazon almost as long as I have,” Bezos said. “He will be an outstanding leader, and he has my full confidence.” The announcement comes just 90 minutes before Amazon reports what is expected to be a blowout holiday quarter earning report. “As much as I still tap dance into the office, I’m excited about this transition,” Bezos said, adding that he will focus on “the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The...

This past weekend, several social media accounts started to make alarming announcements. Products they sold — some of which they had sold for months — were suddenly rated “not approved” on Instagram and Facebook, prohibiting their sale. The common denominator? No, not something political. They were all Catholic. One was an author, Carrie Gress, whose book “The Anti-Mary Exposed: Rescuing the Culture from Toxic Femininity” was removed. The book on Catholicism and culture is not new, though it was published fairly recently in 2019. According to the screenshots she shared, she was alerted that the item no longer follows the...