by Caitlin Johnstone
In what’s surely the biggest “Imagine the outrage if Trump had done that” moment to date, the Biden administration has admitted that it is giving Facebook a list of accounts to censor for spreading “disinformation” about Covid-19.
“We’ve increased disinformation research and tracking,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki told the press on Thursday. “Within the Surgeon General’s Office, we’re flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation. We’re working with doctors and medical professionals to connect medical experts with people, who are popular with their audiences with accurate information and boost trusted content. So, we’re helping get trusted content out there.”
The Biden administration is telling Facebook which posts it regards as ‘problematic’ so that Facebook can remove them,” Glenn Greenwald said on Twitter in response to the news. “This is the union of corporate and state power — one of the classic hallmarks of fascism — that the people who spent five years babbling about fascism support.”
“If you don’t find it deeply disturbing that the White House is ‘flagging’ internet content that they deem ‘problematic’ to their Facebook allies for removal, then you are definitionally an authoritarian,” Greenwald said. “No other information is needed about you to know that. There is no circumstance — none — in which it’s acceptable for the White House or any other agency of the government to be providing lists to Facebook of ‘problematic’ content it wants removed, yet that’s exactly what Psaki says they’re doing. The White House is admitting that they’re compiling lists of people who they claim are posting content they regard as ‘problematic’ and that constitute ‘misinformation’ and are demanding Facebook remove them. This is authoritarianism.”
We are reliably told that the Jacinda government does the same, and not just about the China virus. —Eds
How comforting and reassuring for kiwis to know that our govt are adamant that our health and welfare needs are top priority. Their wealth of knowledge surpasses all professional experts in the field of virilogy. How amazing is that! They even shut down any info from credible doctors. Wow. They care about us. i must get the vax and the booster. I hear there will be another booster too. Yay.
Free shearing this spring too, so I hear.
It’s ironic that the author Caitlin Johnstone states “everyone, racist platforms excluded, has my permission to republish or use any part of this work”. Surely free speech for everyone includes racists?
That’s the view that libertarians and democrats take, but fascists and communists don’t. The Jacinda government is composed mostly of the latter.