Missouri’s new Attorney General, Andrew Bailey, claims he has “hard evidence” that the Biden Administration colluded with social media companies to censor differing viewpoints and silence “misinformation” on COVID-19 that later turned out to be true.
This evidence was obtained as part of a massive lawsuit filed by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and former Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt against the Biden administration and 67 defendants for allegedly colluding with social media companies to censor freedom of speech on several topics, including COVID-19.
In emails released Friday on Twitter, Bailey disclosed an email from White House employee Clarke Humphrey to Twitter asking the social media giant to remove a tweet by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “ASAP.” As Bailey pointed out, Kennedy is an outspoken critic of the White House’s COVID-19 narrative.
The White House took issue with Kennedy’s tweet insinuating Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine may have caused Hank Aaron’s death.
The White House employee then asked Twitter to “keep an eye out” for tweets that “fall in this same genre.”
In another email shared by Bailey, Rob Flaherty, White House Director of Digital Strategy, emailed Facebook to ask that they remove specific posts by prominent conservatives related to COVID vaccines. The first post at issue was by Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who insinuated the vaccines don’t work. The second post was by Tomi Lehren, who said she would not get a COVID shot.
The Facebook employee responded that he “saw the same thing” when they got off the phone and is “running this down now.”
Here’s an example of Big Tech, specifically YouTube, “toeing the line for Biden.” The Biden administration is clearly attempting to censor speech that may cause vaccine hesitancy, even if that speech is true.
Bailey provided another instance of collusion: This email provides an example of an article by Children’s Health Defense that violates the “misinformation and harm” policy because it may “contribute to vaccine hesitancy or present a barrier to vaccination.”
In other words, content is not allowed to be posted on social media if it might cause someone to question getting an endless barrage of COVID shots, even if it is true.
The author of the email goes on to provide examples of what types of content violate said policy, including content that contains sensational or alarmist vaccine misrepresentation, true but shocking claims, personal anecdotes (i.e., vaccine injury stories), or “discussing the choice to vaccinate in terms of personal and civil liberties or concerns related to mistrust in institutions or individuals.” Posts that fall into these categories receive the gift of various degrees of censorship.
But wait, it gets better. Below is an email showing the White House couldn’t care less about a product unless it “has a measurable impact” on suppressing speech. In this email, the White House’s Flaherty demands answers on how effective Facebook has been at reducing the spread of “vaccine-skeptical CONTENT and misinformation” to “vaccine fence-sitters” in the “now-folded lockdown.”
In the same email, Flaherty admits Facebook deployed an algorithm to promote “quality news and information” to users about “the election,” but only after the election. He then blames Facebook for election skepticism and the Jan. 6 “insurrection” and wants assurances Facebook is not “doing the same thing again here” as it pertains to COVID-19 vaccines.
“These emails confirm what we’ve known all along, the Biden Admin has been colluding with social media companies to stifle opposing voices,” Bailey said in a tweet. “I will continue to push back against this blatant attack on the 1st Amendment with every tool at my disposal.”
The Biden administration owes the American people an explanation for why it thinks a government that works for the people, elected by the people, can manipulate the people. We should demand accountability and transparency — and the government should take responsibility for the millions of people who have undoubtedly been injured at the hands of government-perpetuated propaganda.