Free Republic

A federal judge ruled against the Biden administration’s efforts to dismiss a case involving online censorship Monday, saying that the states of Missouri and Louisiana had “plausibly alleged” First Amendment violations. United States District Judge Terry A. Doughty of the Western District of Louisiana denied the Biden administration’s motion to dismiss a suit brought on May 5 by Republican Attorneys General Erik Schmitt of Missouri and Jeff Landry of Louisiana. Schmitt and Landry said the Biden administration colluded with social media companies to censor debate on multiple issues, including the 2020 presidential election and the COVID-19 pandemic.

President Donald Trump has been given another victory against Big Tech. After recently being unbanned from Facebook and Twitter, his YouTube account is now reinstated. “Starting today, the Donald J. Trump channel is no longer restricted and can upload new content,” an official YouTube account tweeted. “We carefully evaluated the continued risk of real-world violence, while balancing the chance for voters to hear equally from major national candidates in the run up to an election.”1/ Starting today, the Donald J. Trump channel is no longer restricted and can upload new content. We carefully evaluated the continued risk of real-world violence,...

Americans need to have an important discussion about free speech now — before the Censorship Complex makes it impossible to do so. The Censorship Complex — whereby Big Tech censorship is induced by the government, media, and media-rating businesses — threatens the future of free speech in this country. To understand how and why, Americans need to talk about speech — and the government’s motive to deceive the public. To frame this discussion, consider these hypotheticals: Two American soldiers training Ukraine soldiers in Poland cross into the war zone, ambushing and killing five Russian soldiers. Unbeknownst to the American soldiers,...

Apple temporarily removed former President Donald Trump’s debut single, “Justice For All,” from iTunes on Thursday after the hit single spent one week at number one on the iTunes chart, Kash Patel told Breitbart News. Trump released “Justice For All,” less than two weeks ago. The song features the “J6 Prison Choir,” an ensemble of January 6 prisoners who can be heard singing the national anthem while Trump recites the Pledge of Allegiance. Notably, the song topped the iTunes chart, staying at the number-one spot for seven consecutive days. The song beat out Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers,” Tim McGraw’s “Standing Room...

President Donald Trump has been targeted by social media censorship in its most corrupt form, since the beginning of 2021. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have made it clear they are willing to cherry-pick violations of their policies and ultimately ban conservatives.However, just over one year after his ban on the Big Tech platforms, the 45th president began working on the development of a new platform that would allow free speech. President Trump handpicked former Congressman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., to be CEO of the new free speech platform Truth Social. In the days leading up to the launch of...

Tensions between European telecommunications firms and U.S. Big Tech companies have crested, as telecom bosses mount pressure on regulators to make digital giants fork up some of the cost of building the backbone of the internet. European telcos argue that large internet firms, mainly American, have built their businesses on the back of the multi-billion dollar investments that carriers have made in internet infrastructure. Google, Netflix, Meta, Apple, Amazon and Microsoft generate nearly half of all internet traffic today. Telcos think these firms should pay “fair share” fees to account for their disproportionate infrastructure needs and help fund the rollout...

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...

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House Oversight Committee Republicans rejected a slew of amendments to weaken their legislation against government coercion of tech platforms (HR 140) at a markup Tuesday, warning that Democrats' proposed exceptions were so vague they would gut the bill's speech protections. The Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act amends the Hatch Act, which prohibits political activity by federal employees, to prohibit the use of "official authority" to influence or coerce any "interactive computer service" to remove or suppress "lawful speech," add disclaimers or alerts, or restrict access to users. Penalties include termination, up to a five-year ban on federal employment and...

The Twitter Files show how the FBI deputized Twitter to conduct illegal censorship of American citizens and undermine the First Amendment. ... Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter last October and the subsequent reporting on the “Twitter Files” by journalists Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss, and a handful of others beginning in early December is one of the most important news stories of our time. The “Twitter Files” story encompasses, and to a large extent connects, every major political scandal of the Trump-Biden era. Put simply, the “Twitter Files” reveal an unholy alliance between Big Tech and the deep state designed to...

There’s a movement brewing to shut down conservative websites that offer views and information contradicting left-wing orthodoxy. Investigative reporter Gabe Kaminsky did an excellent job of uncovering how activist organizations, some partnered with the State Department, work to blacklist and defund conservative media. His ongoing series at the Washington Examiner is worth reading and explains how this is part of a larger effort to effectively shut down conservative media publications. It’s predictable—yet nevertheless disturbing—stuff. “Major ad companies are increasingly seeking guidance from purportedly ‘nonpartisan’ groups claiming to be detecting and fighting online ‘disinformation.’” Kaminsky wrote. “These same ‘disinformation’ monitors are...

Big Food is making its move into the “digital health space” as grocery chain giant Albertsons announced the roll-out of its “Sincerely Health” platform along with a new app where customers “can connect data from wearables, integrate prescriptions, design their diet and make telehealth or vaccination appointments.” Albertsons, which includes other mega grocery chains such as Safeway, Vons, Shaw’s, Jewel-Osco, Acme and Tom Thumb, among others, is currently in talks to merger with Kroger, another mega grocery chain, which would give them 36% control over the grocery supermarket business in the United States. Walmart, the largest grocery chain in the...

The Supreme Court faces the challenge of trying to manage the unmanageable on Tuesday when it hears a case that could drastically change the functioning of social media platforms. The case is Gonzalez v. Google and it deals with whether tech platforms can be legally liable for content posted, even from third parties. Social media giants have created a “wild west” atmosphere over the years, where tons of crazy and potentially dangerous material circulate in the “virtual marketplace of ideas.” Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, however, provides broad protections for these platforms from legal liability for the...

Big Tech’s censorship teams appear to be losing steam amidst legal scrutiny, layoffs, and waning popularity, the New York Times reported Tuesday. YouTube, for example, cut two of five “hate speech and harassments” policy experts, removed two of five misinformation experts, and reduced its policy enforcement and response teams, according to the NYT. This comes after Google’s parent company, Alphabet, cut around 12,0000 employees in January. Twitter’s reductions have been the most pronounced since Elon Musk’s takeover and promise to restore free speech, reinstating most previously banned accounts. In November, Twitter CEO Elon Musk laid off half of the company’s...

The Supreme Court returns next week to hear oral arguments on issues ranging from the regulation of Big Tech to President Biden's student loan handout to the Jack Daniel's trademark. The case involving the famous whiskey brand, which will be heard on March 22, involves a battle that pits First Amendment rights against trademark protections. The case arises from a lawsuit brought by Jack Daniel's against VIP Products LLC for marketing and selling spoof dog toys that look like the famous whiskey bottle

Former President Donald Trump says Democrats and Big Tech colluded to deplatform and "illegally censor" him to hide statements he made on social media stressing peace and lawful behavior on Jan. 6, 2021. "It was shockingly revealed that Twitter colluded with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to Rig and Steal the 2020 Presidential Election in favor of Joe Biden, and to deplatform and illegally censor me," Trump said in a statement provided to Just The News. "As a key example of the corruption within the FBI, Special Agent Charles McGonigal, the head of the now fully 'debunked' Russia,...

Google says it has been working around the clock alongside other Big Tech companies to fight Russian cyberattackers waging a digital war against Ukraine, guarding against some of the same ransomware attackers who previously hit the U.S. The tech Titan published a “Fog of War” report Thursday saying the Ukrainian government is under “near-constant digital attack” from Russia, including via its military intelligence service, the GRU. Google said it disrupted government-backed attackers to protect people from exploitation and notified users of products such as Gmail that they had been targeted, when the company deemed it appropriate. The U.S. government is...

The Department of State has funded a deep-pocketed "disinformation" tracking group that is secretly blacklisting and trying to defund conservative media, likely costing the news organizations vital advertising dollars, the Washington Examiner can confirm. The Global Disinformation Index, a British organization with two affiliated U.S. nonprofit groups, is feeding blacklists to ad companies with the intent of defunding and shutting down websites peddling alleged "disinformation," the Washington Examiner reported . This same "disinformation" group has received $330,000 from two State Department-backed entities linked to the highest levels of government, raising concerns from First Amendment lawyers and members of Congress. "Any...

Microsoft founder and billionaire Bill Gates said AI should be considered as a tool to combat “digital misinformation” and “political polarization” in an interview published on Thursday with Handelsblatt, a German news media outlet. In response to a question about the spreading of “misinformation” via AI, Gates referred to the events of January 6, 2021, as an “attack on the Capitol. He said: I’m certainly concerned about political polarization, and I know the U.S. situation best of all. I wouldn’t have expected people to attack the Capitol, or people to deny the validity of election results. I‘m in a state...

The Washington Examiner revealed on Thursday that it is on GDI's list and spoke to an ad-buying source who said Breitbart News is also. Separately, GDI has said that the 10 "riskiest" news outlets for purported disinformation are the American Spectator, Newsmax, the Federalist, the American Conservative, One America News Network, the Blaze, the Daily Wire, RealClearPolitics, Reason, and the New York Post.