Every Facet of Government Is in the Censorship Business | Mercola.com

[Walt]

Every Facet of Government Is in the Censorship Business

I know you are wrong about the level of censorship, because you can make the claim that you are right. If the government was censoring you, you would not be able to say the government was censoring you.

For instance I can say the below statements without them being censored:

 

[AProudLefty]

I found the following story interesting, think some here may as well. Important to note, Mercola.com moves their articles behind a paywall after 48 hours, so if you are thinking of perhaps reading the entire article at a later date, you can always just download the pdf, which you can do by clicking on the button near the top left of the article.

**
January 17, 2023

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

•Between the documentation obtained through a recent lawsuit against the White House and the Twitter files released by Elon Musk, it’s become quite clear that every facet of the U.S. government, including its intelligence agencies, are involved in illegal and unconstitutional censorship

•We now have proof that the FBI has been acting as the key instigator and implementer of the government’s illegal censorship of Americans. The FBI has also actively interfered in multiple elections — all while inventing the narrative that foreign nations were interfering

•Twitter has worked hand in hand with the U.S. Department of Defense to aid U.S. intelligence agencies in their efforts to influence foreign governments using fake news, computerized deepfake videos and bots

•The Twitter files also reveal members of Congress have a direct line to Twitter and have had accounts suspended on their behalf and content removed at their whim

•Discovery documents from a lawsuit against the White House filed by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana show at least 67 federal employees across more than a dozen agencies are also engaged in illegal censorship activities. This includes aides to President Biden, who pressured social media companies to change their policies to fit White House demands for censorship
**

Full article:
Every Facet of Government Is in the Censorship Business | Mercola.com

Go visit North Korea, Iran or China and you will understand what censorship really is.

 

[Walt]

Go visit North Korea, Iran or China and you will understand what censorship really is.

In Russia, people are going to prison for years for even saying the word "war" without reference to Ukraine. Meanwhile, the maga crowd claims censorship is other people being allowed to disagree with them.

 

[Scott]

The left found vaccines were good long before Biden won the election. They were pro-Fauci all along. The left trusts the CDC and the healthcare system.

You sure about that?

Kamala Harris flips from vaccine skeptic to vaccine booster | Washington Examiner

To be fair, however, the left is hardly the only flip flopper here:

Watch: Republicans exposed for flip-flopping on vaccines as soon as Trump left office | alternet.org

I've been against vaccines long before Covid started and I certainly didn't change stance once Covid arrived. For those who aren't aware, I made a thread on vaccines in this forum here:

The Safety and Efficacy of Vaccines | justplainpolitics.com

 

[Scott]

People using social media for their news aren't really interested in news.

According to who? I don't personally don't get most of my news from social media, but I've gotten warnings for posts I made on facebook, and so gave up posting anything that the powers that be on facebook deemed unsuitable. I use facebook primarily to talk to friends and see what they're up to, not willing to risk that just to post on subjects that I can talk about in forums instead.

There are plenty of creditable sources that prove several times the amount of news from any social media or television source.

I strongly suspect we wouldn't agree on a list of creditable sources.

To suggest the news is being censored because it is not on social media sites assumes Americans are idiots.

The news is being censored on social media sites. You and I may not get most of our news from such outlets, but that doesn't change the fact that it's censorship.

 

[Scott]

Corporations censor. They keep workers in line and punish those who say things they do not want out. Censorship is tried by anyone with power.

I certainly agree that the U.S. government isn't the only entity in the U.S. that practices censorship. I could even say that not all censorship is bad- threats of violence or inciting it can be bad. This site itself has limits on what people can say and I think that's a good thing. The problem is when governments or corporations start censoring things that are neither threats of violence or inciting it, things that may even be true.

 

[Scott]

I know you are wrong about the level of censorship, because you can make the claim that you are right. If the government was censoring you, you would not be able to say the government was censoring you.

For instance I can say the below statements without them being censored:

Your argument seems to be that if you aren't completely censored, then you aren't censored at all. That's just not how censorship works.

 

[Scott]

Go visit North Korea, Iran or China and you will understand what censorship really is.

Just because censorship in the U.S. and other western countries isn't as bad as the censorship in the countries you mention doesn't mean that there is no wrongful censorship in said western countries.

 

[Scott]

In Russia, people are going to prison for years for even saying the word "war" without reference to Ukraine. Meanwhile, the maga crowd claims censorship is other people being allowed to disagree with them.

I'm not part of the maga crowd and I've never heard anyone define censorship the way you claim the maga crowd defines it.

 

[AProudLefty]

Just because censorship in the U.S. and other western countries isn't as bad as the censorship in the countries you mention doesn't mean that there is no wrongful censorship in said western countries.

There is zero censorship here in America by the government.

 

[Walt]

Your argument seems to be that if you aren't completely censored, then you aren't censored at all. That's just not how censorship works.

Having other people say things that disagree with you is not censorship, it is the lack of censorship.

 

[Scott]

There is zero censorship here in America by the government.

Did you even read the opening post before commenting on it?

 

[Scott]

Your argument seems to be that if you aren't completely censored, then you aren't censored at all. That's just not how censorship works.

Having other people say things that disagree with you is not censorship, it is the lack of censorship.

Where did I say or even imply that people disagreeing with me was somehow censorship?

 

[AProudLefty]

Did you even read the opening post before commenting on it?

Yes. There is zero censorship by our government.

 

[Scott]

There is zero censorship here in America by the government.

Did you even read the opening post before commenting on it?

Yes. There is zero censorship by our government.

Alright, let's review what I quoted in the opening post:

**
•Between the documentation obtained through a recent lawsuit against the White House and the Twitter files released by Elon Musk, it’s become quite clear that every facet of the U.S. government, including its intelligence agencies, are involved in illegal and unconstitutional censorship

•We now have proof that the FBI has been acting as the key instigator and implementer of the government’s illegal censorship of Americans. The FBI has also actively interfered in multiple elections — all while inventing the narrative that foreign nations were interfering

•Twitter has worked hand in hand with the U.S. Department of Defense to aid U.S. intelligence agencies in their efforts to influence foreign governments using fake news, computerized deepfake videos and bots

•The Twitter files also reveal members of Congress have a direct line to Twitter and have had accounts suspended on their behalf and content removed at their whim

•Discovery documents from a lawsuit against the White House filed by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana show at least 67 federal employees across more than a dozen agencies are also engaged in illegal censorship activities. This includes aides to President Biden, who pressured social media companies to change their policies to fit White House demands for censorship
**

My guess is that you believe that everything said in those statements is false?

 

[AProudLefty]

Alright, let's review what I quoted in the opening post:

**
•Between the documentation obtained through a recent lawsuit against the White House and the Twitter files released by Elon Musk, it’s become quite clear that every facet of the U.S. government, including its intelligence agencies, are involved in illegal and unconstitutional censorship

•We now have proof that the FBI has been acting as the key instigator and implementer of the government’s illegal censorship of Americans. The FBI has also actively interfered in multiple elections — all while inventing the narrative that foreign nations were interfering

•Twitter has worked hand in hand with the U.S. Department of Defense to aid U.S. intelligence agencies in their efforts to influence foreign governments using fake news, computerized deepfake videos and bots

•The Twitter files also reveal members of Congress have a direct line to Twitter and have had accounts suspended on their behalf and content removed at their whim

•Discovery documents from a lawsuit against the White House filed by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana show at least 67 federal employees across more than a dozen agencies are also engaged in illegal censorship activities. This includes aides to President Biden, who pressured social media companies to change their policies to fit White House demands for censorship
**

My guess is that you believe that everything said in those statements is false?

It is not about belief. It is about evidence. You have provided no such evidence.

 

[Scott]

Alright, let's review what I quoted in the opening post:

**
•Between the documentation obtained through a recent lawsuit against the White House and the Twitter files released by Elon Musk, it’s become quite clear that every facet of the U.S. government, including its intelligence agencies, are involved in illegal and unconstitutional censorship

•We now have proof that the FBI has been acting as the key instigator and implementer of the government’s illegal censorship of Americans. The FBI has also actively interfered in multiple elections — all while inventing the narrative that foreign nations were interfering

•Twitter has worked hand in hand with the U.S. Department of Defense to aid U.S. intelligence agencies in their efforts to influence foreign governments using fake news, computerized deepfake videos and bots

•The Twitter files also reveal members of Congress have a direct line to Twitter and have had accounts suspended on their behalf and content removed at their whim

•Discovery documents from a lawsuit against the White House filed by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana show at least 67 federal employees across more than a dozen agencies are also engaged in illegal censorship activities. This includes aides to President Biden, who pressured social media companies to change their policies to fit White House demands for censorship
**

My guess is that you believe that everything said in those statements is false?

It is not about belief. It is about evidence. You have provided no such evidence.

If you'd clicked on the link to the article in the 2 days it was up for free on Mercola, or taken the time to download the pdf before it went behind a paywall, you could have found that evidence. I did download the pdf, but the pdf didn't come with the video it mentions below, so I decided to pay for a 1 month subscription to Mercola's substack just now. I'll start with the first bullet point above, quoting from the original Mercola article:

**

Between the documentation obtained through a recent lawsuit against the White House and the Twitter files released by Elon Musk, it's become quite clear that every facet of the U.S. government, including its intelligence agencies, are involved in illegal and unconstitutional censorship.

In the video above, Fox News host Tucker Carlson interviews independent journalist Matt Taibbi, who has spent weeks sifting through the released Twitter files and reported on the contents.

FBI Has Gone Off the Rails

Importantly, we now have proof that the FBI has been acting as the key instigator and implementer of the government's illegal censorship of Americans' political and medical views. The agency has also, on a regular basis and for unknown purposes, asked Twitter to reveal the location of specific Twitter users, such as actor Billy Baldwin.

What's more, internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memos, emails and documents show the DHS has worked on expanding its influence over tech platforms for years, so, government censorship is not something that came about in response to the COVID crisis. Nor is the censorship limited to COVID or public health information in general.

Evidence shows the FBI has actively interfered in multiple elections — all while inventing the narrative that foreign nations were doing the interfering.1 As noted by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., these kinds of activities are "the biggest threat to our constitutional democracy today."2

As just one example, we now know the FBI plotted to quench the Hunter Biden laptop story well before the first report about it was published. In collaboration with Twitter, Facebook and the Aspen Institute, the FBI held a tabletop exercise to practice the shaping of the media's coverage of a potential "hack and dump" operation involving Hunter Biden material.3 4 As reported by the New York Post:5

"[The] drill was put into practical use weeks later, when The Post broke the news about Hunter Biden's infamous laptop — which was either ignored or downplayed by most mainstream news outlets and suppressed by both Twitter and Facebook."

There's also evidence showing the FBI has been shielding Hunter Biden and working with social media to censor bad press about him as far back as 2018.6 That job was probably made easier by the fact that reportedly former FBI agents work at both Twitter and Facebook.

For example, Jim Baker spent three decades with the FBI before becoming Twitter's head lawyer,7 and Facebook employs no less than 115 "former" employees of the FBI, CIA, NSA and other intelligence agencies, most of whom now work in Facebook's content moderation department.8
**

 

[AProudLefty]

If you'd clicked on the link to the article in the 2 days it was up for free on Mercola, or taken the time to download the pdf before it went behind a paywall, you could have found that evidence. I did download the pdf, but the pdf didn't come with the video it mentions below, so I decided to pay for a 1 month subscription to Mercola's substack just now. I'll start with the first bullet point above, quoting from the original Mercola article:

**

Between the documentation obtained through a recent lawsuit against the White House and the Twitter files released by Elon Musk, it's become quite clear that every facet of the U.S. government, including its intelligence agencies, are involved in illegal and unconstitutional censorship.

In the video above, Fox News host Tucker Carlson interviews independent journalist Matt Taibbi, who has spent weeks sifting through the released Twitter files and reported on the contents.

FBI Has Gone Off the Rails

Importantly, we now have proof that the FBI has been acting as the key instigator and implementer of the government's illegal censorship of Americans' political and medical views. The agency has also, on a regular basis and for unknown purposes, asked Twitter to reveal the location of specific Twitter users, such as actor Billy Baldwin.

What's more, internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memos, emails and documents show the DHS has worked on expanding its influence over tech platforms for years, so, government censorship is not something that came about in response to the COVID crisis. Nor is the censorship limited to COVID or public health information in general.

Evidence shows the FBI has actively interfered in multiple elections — all while inventing the narrative that foreign nations were doing the interfering.1 As noted by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., these kinds of activities are "the biggest threat to our constitutional democracy today."2

As just one example, we now know the FBI plotted to quench the Hunter Biden laptop story well before the first report about it was published. In collaboration with Twitter, Facebook and the Aspen Institute, the FBI held a tabletop exercise to practice the shaping of the media's coverage of a potential "hack and dump" operation involving Hunter Biden material.3 4 As reported by the New York Post:5

"[The] drill was put into practical use weeks later, when The Post broke the news about Hunter Biden's infamous laptop — which was either ignored or downplayed by most mainstream news outlets and suppressed by both Twitter and Facebook."

There's also evidence showing the FBI has been shielding Hunter Biden and working with social media to censor bad press about him as far back as 2018.6 That job was probably made easier by the fact that reportedly former FBI agents work at both Twitter and Facebook.

For example, Jim Baker spent three decades with the FBI before becoming Twitter's head lawyer,7 and Facebook employs no less than 115 "former" employees of the FBI, CIA, NSA and other intelligence agencies, most of whom now work in Facebook's content moderation department.8
**

There is no evidence.

 

[Scott]

If you'd clicked on the link to the article in the 2 days it was up for free on Mercola, or taken the time to download the pdf before it went behind a paywall, you could have found that evidence. I did download the pdf, but the pdf didn't come with the video it mentions below, so I decided to pay for a 1 month subscription to Mercola's substack just now. I'll start with the first bullet point above, quoting from the original Mercola article:

**

Between the documentation obtained through a recent lawsuit against the White House and the Twitter files released by Elon Musk, it's become quite clear that every facet of the U.S. government, including its intelligence agencies, are involved in illegal and unconstitutional censorship.

In the video above, Fox News host Tucker Carlson interviews independent journalist Matt Taibbi, who has spent weeks sifting through the released Twitter files and reported on the contents.

FBI Has Gone Off the Rails

Importantly, we now have proof that the FBI has been acting as the key instigator and implementer of the government's illegal censorship of Americans' political and medical views. The agency has also, on a regular basis and for unknown purposes, asked Twitter to reveal the location of specific Twitter users, such as actor Billy Baldwin.

What's more, internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memos, emails and documents show the DHS has worked on expanding its influence over tech platforms for years, so, government censorship is not something that came about in response to the COVID crisis. Nor is the censorship limited to COVID or public health information in general.

Evidence shows the FBI has actively interfered in multiple elections — all while inventing the narrative that foreign nations were doing the interfering.1 As noted by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., these kinds of activities are "the biggest threat to our constitutional democracy today."2

As just one example, we now know the FBI plotted to quench the Hunter Biden laptop story well before the first report about it was published. In collaboration with Twitter, Facebook and the Aspen Institute, the FBI held a tabletop exercise to practice the shaping of the media's coverage of a potential "hack and dump" operation involving Hunter Biden material.3 4 As reported by the New York Post:5

"[The] drill was put into practical use weeks later, when The Post broke the news about Hunter Biden's infamous laptop — which was either ignored or downplayed by most mainstream news outlets and suppressed by both Twitter and Facebook."

There's also evidence showing the FBI has been shielding Hunter Biden and working with social media to censor bad press about him as far back as 2018.6 That job was probably made easier by the fact that reportedly former FBI agents work at both Twitter and Facebook.

For example, Jim Baker spent three decades with the FBI before becoming Twitter's head lawyer,7 and Facebook employs no less than 115 "former" employees of the FBI, CIA, NSA and other intelligence agencies, most of whom now work in Facebook's content moderation department.8
**

There is no evidence.

There's no way you could have read all of that in a minute's time. You're clearly ignoring the evidence.

 

[AProudLefty]

There's no way you could have read all of that in a minute's time. You're clearly ignoring the evidence.

Your claim is that the ABC organizations forced Twitter to censor certain Twitter accounts.