CFFS Decries Censorship Practices of Social Media Giants
MESA, Ariz., April 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In a shocking display of disregard for First Amendment protections afforded all Americans, the leadership of popular social media platforms used by millions each day for news and opinions have announced a ban on certain users--and the removal of their content--that they deem misleading or counterproductive to their own technocrat agendas.
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki told CNN that videos offering viewpoints on the current pandemic that differ from declarations made by the World Health Organization, will be spiked.
"We also talk about removing information that is problematic," Wojcicki said, "anything that would go against World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations would be a violation of our policy. And so, removal is another really important part of our policy."
YouTube subsequently removed a viral video featuring two California physicians presenting front-line evidence that national lockdown policies were not as effective as originally thought, and recommended policies to quarantine the sick rather than the healthy.
CFFS Executive Director Patrick Wood criticized the tech giant on the grounds of both free speech and merit.
"Google leadership has managed to pull off a rare double," Wood said, "in addition to depriving YouTube users of the right to express their own views or to listen to the views of health experts such as Dr. Erickson and Dr. Massihi, they have also boosted the credibility of an international organization that has been widely criticized for its mishandling of the health crisis."
The WHO has been condemned by political leaders in Congress for legitimizing dubious claims made by communist leaders in Beijing over their initial efforts to keep the virus localized, as well as the actual number of cases and fatalities that occurred.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg announced plans to censor protest organizers' posts that were intended to pressure state and local governments into lifting stay-at-home orders that have crippled the American economy. Zuckerburg told ABC that, "Facebook is now being used to organize a lot of these protests," and that "we do classify that as harmful misinformation and we take that down."
CFFS believes social media companies that act as a public utility should not be in the business of censorship of any lawful or constitutional activity.
"How can Facebook executives possibly defend a ban on lawful citizens using lawful tactics to organize peaceful assemblies?" Wood asked, "these types of decisions, made by Silicon Valley technocrats substituting their own judgment for that of the framers of our Constitution, is horribly damaging to the rights of Americans. The First Amendment is the watershed concept of all political and social activities. Without the ability to communicate with other law-abiding citizens, all other civil liberties are in immediate jeopardy."
For more information about CFFS please visit www.CitizensForFreeSpeech.org.
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SOURCE Citizens for Free Speech
