In the last fifteen years, social media has no doubt taken over as the town square for public discussion. But similar to what we’ve seen for far longer amongst national news publications and networks, great efforts are taken to silence the voices of conservatives.

This is why, in part, the story of Elon Musk potentially taking over Twitter has been a dominating news story for months now.

And it may be a reason he states, on Twitter, that he was switching his votes this year from Democrats to Republicans. A 2020 Pew Research survey found that 69% of Republicans and Republican leaners say major technology companies generally support the views of liberals over conservatives, compared with 25% of Democrats and Democratic leaners.

It’s why a federal appeals court this year reinstated a Republican-backed Texas law that prohibits large social media companies from banning users over their political viewpoints.

It’s why you saw President Donald Trump banned from Twitter, but not leaders of the Taliban as they retook Afghanistan last year. Being able to use Twitter to spread propaganda was an incredibly useful and strategic tool in the Taliban’s path to power.

Meanwhile, so many liberals continue to play the game of shutting down voices they don’t agree with. According to a Cato Institute/​YouGov national survey late last year, liberals are nearly three times more likely than conservatives to say that they have reported another user to a social media company for sharing offensive content or false information. Among social media users, 65% of strong liberals and 44% of moderate liberals say they have done this. That’s compared to 32% of moderates, 21% of moderate conservatives, and 24% of strong conservatives.

But it’s no secret that this kind of culture to silence and suppress has been going on for quite a while. Last year, media attention was focused on silencing podcaster Joe Rogan, simply for having guests on his show who are not in step and line with the woke left. Brendan Eich, co-founder of Mozilla, was kicked out in 2014 from the company he created. Why? Because he made a meager $1,000 donation in opposition of same-sex marriage.

When someone can be removed from their own company, simply for following traditional family values, is it any surprise that folks are now being silenced across social media? This culture of silence that’s long been forming is in contradiction to our founding principles. When we engage and discuss ideas, instead of constantly shunning and silencing, we may find ourselves less divided as Americans.

Free speech and assembly is, after all, our first amendment. And with a critical midterm election coming up this November, now is not the time to forget our Constitution.