As Joe Biden gives his State of the Union address, he will no doubt gloss over the biggest scandal in our nation’s history since Watergate, which has been occurring silently over the last few years. A significant proportion of Americans have probably already forgotten about it for the sole reason that many trusted media sources have played a vital role in burying it.
Although the unholy union between government and the private sector has existed for years, the recent release of Twitter Files has proven the existence of an unofficial phantom branch of government – legacy media and social media. This disguised branch of government exists to serve as a “Truth Commission.”
Not the “Truth Commission” recommended by representative Sara Jacobs of the 53rd district of California but one established by the government for Big Tech companies to censor, disseminate and proliferate information that fits an official narrative. It seeks to silence dissenting voices and narratives while amplifying those that fit their agenda. The partnership between government and media is a key driver of what type of information the American people are given access to, making the government the arbiter of truth.
The Twitter Files are a set of internal Twitter documents that ultimately exposed Twitter’s politically based censorship at the behest of the United States government. This was implemented via a technical algorithm that buried or suppressed certain stories to create an overwhelming bias towards left-leaning users with chilling implications for American liberty.
Prior to the 2020 election, President Biden’s administration requested that Twitter censor politically right-leaning content. This was coupled with “shadow banning” of medical professionals who questioned the overarching COVID-19 narrative.
This was followed by President Donald Trump’s suspension from Twitter, a move that sparked the redundant fight for freedom of speech. I use the word “redundant” because freedom of speech should have never become an issue.
Meanwhile FBI employees and the U.S. military’s online psychological influence operations were also working with Twitter. The FBI and DHS regularly sent social media content to Twitter through multiple entry points, pre-flagged for moderation.
President Biden met with Twitter executives to shut down “anti-vaxxers,” completely making the discourse with COVID-19 extremely biased. Then it came to the public’s attention that a former FBI agent used a neoliberal think tank to create fraudulent stories about Russian bots using the platform to spread misinformation.
This merger of politics and Big Tech has threatened American democracy and threatens the rise of corporatism in this nation in which the government and various companies partner to regulate society.
When political, social and economic decisions are achieved through negotiations between the federal government and special interest groups, democracy dies. Big Tech and Big Pharma have leveraged Washington’s lobbyist culture to increase their bottom lines. The pharmaceutical industry has spent over $100 million in 2022 on lobbying in the U.S. Major technology companies increased their lobby spending to more than $21 million in 2021.
As we saw in the Twitter Files, This relationship between the government and Big Tech and Big Pharma ensured that Americans did not have the information necessary to make decisions about their health, their vote, or to even access any alternative narratives on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Such a merger undermines the freedom of choice. In the midst of a public health emergency, Americans should have the right to make informed decisions about their personal health and wellness by assessing all the possible risks and consequences of any medical intervention. Americans should also have the right to question any public health policy implemented by federal agencies.
What purpose does a government have in silencing experts who have differing opinions regarding COVID-19 policies? Shouldn’t transparency be the objective of a government during a public health emergency? Free societies are distinguished by openness to almost every angle of civil thought. No wonder no one trusts federal agencies.
Perhaps most telling is President Trump’s ban, which opened up the possibility for the same type of censorship to happen to every American citizen. In fact, President Trump’s visibility on the platform was intentionally filtered as late as a week prior to the election. The actions taken against President Trump on Twitter were the first strikes against the personal liberties and freedoms of every American citizen. If Washington and Big Tech could treat a sitting president like that, what could they do to the average citizen?
This then begs the question: Why is federal law enforcement silencing its own people? Or the U.S. Military? Aren’t they supposed to protect and serve? In light of the censorship, might this explain why most outlets, the music and entertainment industries, and the corporate world all promote the same leftist narratives without any hint of dissent? Maybe these are the questions we should all be asking following Biden’s speech.
Barrington Martin II is the host of The Barrington Report.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller.