The global censorship-industrial complex


Misinformation and disinformation have become enormous problems for people and governments around the world and have contributed to a rise in political violence and extremism, among other serious concerns. Technology experts have issued public warnings that these problems may become more severe in the near-term future as AI deepfakes become more realistic, as credible news organizations confront mounting financial difficulties, and as people become lost in ever-growing networks of false or misleading information.

How to regulate and respond to these issues is by itself a complex and hotly debated topic, however, because those discussions require a workable consensus regarding the limits, definitions and rights of free speech granted to all Americans in the First Amendment.

Watch the above video as Straight Arrow News contributor Ben Weingarten argues that progressive-leaning anti-disinformation efforts have gone further than they should, and singles out one organization, the Center for Countering Digital Hate, as an example.


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The following is an excerpt from the above video:

But most disturbing, the internal documents show, is CCDH’s extensive lobbying of U.S. congressional offices to destroy X through regulation and to target advertisers [that] provide a pivotal revenue stream for the social media platform.

In separate reporting, unheard detail that, in an interview with CCDH’s current head, Labor Party-linked Imran Ahmed, the group has the ambitious and terrifying five-year plan to make it impossible for anyone to generate revenue from “hate speech” and “disinformation,” which for CCDH would seem to include what it defines as climate denial, anti-vax misinformation, and a whole slew of other areas demonstrative of a distinctly progressive worldview.

For my part, I think the major takeaway from this story is that it highlights that while the censorship-industrial complex in America has faced scrutiny that has led some elements of it to close up shop or shift tactics, it is again global in nature. It uses every possible lever to try and crush speech it doesn’t like through killing businesses that allow such speech to proliferate or outlets that promote news and views anathema to it.