Sunday, December 1, 2024

'Censorship Is About Stopping Ideas': Incoming FCC Chairman Brendan Carr Prepares For Battle

'Censorship Is About Stopping Ideas': Incoming FCC Chairman Brendan Carr Prepares For Battle

BY TYLER DURDEN
SUNDAY, DEC 01, 2024 - 08:40 AM

Until the internet came along, pumping government propaganda into American homes was like shooting fish in a barrel. As a constellation of alternative media websites such as ZeroHedge emerged, however, the ability to shape narratives and steer the national dialogue quickly eroded.

In order to regain control - particularly in the Trump-era, the government has been colluding with Big Tech, partisan 'fact checkers,' and an aptly named 'advertising cartel' to censor, de-monetize, and otherwise silence divergent opinions - particularly those which shed light on things like government malfeasance, bullshit wars, and cronyism.

Incoming FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is getting ready to level the playing field.

Carr, a veteran Republican regulator who has echoed President-elect Trump's promises to punish political bias within the national media complex, has argued that the agency should also regulate Big Tech - including Apple, Meta, Google and Microsoft.

And in a Sunday interview with Fox News, Carr outlined the road ahead...

"Combatting tech censorship is going to be one of the top priorities for me," said Carr, adding "We need to restore Americans' right to free speech... you mentioned Facebook and other companies. They've been part of a censorship cartel that has worked with advertisers, they've worked with government officials, to censor the free speech rights of everyday Americans. That's gotta end."

"America is a country of founders, people who have pushed frontiers. When you silence speech, you silence ideas. Instead, we need to unleash prosperity, again."

In a November letter, Carr accused several Big Tech companies of having "participated in a censorship cartel that included not only technology and social media companies but advertising, marketing, and so-called "fact-checking" organizations as well as the Biden-Harris Administration itself."

"The relevant conduct extended from removing or blocking social media posts to suppress their information and viewpoints, including through efforts to delist them, lower their rankings, or harm their profitability."

Carr then suggested that their protection from liability under Section 230 may be on the line.

"As you know, Big Tech's prized liability shield, Section 230, is codified in the Communications Act, which the FCC administers. As relevant here, Section 230 only confers benefits on Big Tech companies when they operate, in the words of the statute, "in good faith."

"The censorship cartel must be dismantled," Carr said in a November post on X.

LFG...


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