Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) blew up Facebook in a November 17th hearing for its government-mandated censorship in other countries.
The hearing, titled “Breaking the News: Censorship, Oppression and the 2020 Election,” contained statements from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Blackburn gave several examples of Facebook running “amok” with censorship.
“You used that power to run amok. They used it to silence conservatives, ”she argued. “You used it to make your list. You used that power to act like you had all the power to make these decisions. You pushed this culture of abandonment because you didn’t call to hold your moderators accountable. You have refused to take responsibility for your employees and their actions, and have thus limited you in questions of data protection, data security, the moderation of content and liability protection and specified who is a publisher in the virtual space. You have proven that you do not have the will, the strength and the ability, and you will not accept the responsibility to do it for yourself. “
It referred to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act as “Liability Protection For” [Facebook and Twitter have] turned into an opaque wall. ”
“Does Facebook routinely censor a user’s account at the behest of a foreign government?” asked Blackburn. When Zuckerberg replied with uncertainty, Blackburn replied by asking, “Did Facebook close and bail a Vietnamese dissident’s account for criticizing the government’s land policy?”
Blackburn also asked if Facebook had an “anti-blasphemy policy” in Turkey in which it would “take photos of the Prophet Mohommed if the Turkish government so orders”. Zuckerberg said Facebook had no “policy against it” but was shut down by Blackburn, who replied for him, “The answer is yes.”
Blackburn set example after example of Facebook censorship around the world, accusing the company of prioritizing “profit over principle”.
The timing for this hearing is appropriate considering that Twitter and Facebook are constantly censoring posts related to the elections. Senate Republicans had been looking for another opportunity to confront Twitter and Facebook over the censorship of the New York Post story alleging alleged corrupt dealings of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden in Ukraine. A recent post-election poll by MRC found that 36 percent of Biden voters were unaware of this story.
Conservatives are attacked. Contact Facebook headquarters at 1-650-308-7300 and Twitter at (415) 222-9670 and contact your representatives. Demand that big tech be held accountable to reflect the first change while ensuring transparency, clarity about “hate speech” and equality for conservatives. If you’ve been censored, contact us using the Media Research Center contact form and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
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