Big Tech has ramped up it’s war on so-called “misinformation” after YouTube — owned by Google — censored a video posted by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.
This was the second video Paul posted about his concerns with the growing call for vaccine mandates, masking for children, Fauci’s overreach, and more. His “offense” resulted in a week-long suspension from the video posting platform.
“YouTube now thinks they are smart enough and godly enough that they can oversee speech, even constitutionally protected speech.”
I think this kind of censorship is very dangerous, incredibly anti-free speech, and truly anti-progress of science, which involves skepticism and argumentation to arrive at the truth. https://t.co/E8atFRMuBP
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) August 10, 2021
Paul, an eye doctor, then recorded, and on Aug. 3 uploaded, a second video chastising YouTube for taking down the video and promoted one of its competitors, Rumble. He defended his comments on masks.
“Saying cloth masks work, when they don’t, actually risks lives, as someone may choose to care for a loved one with COVID while only wearing a cloth mask. This is not only bad advice but also potentially deadly misinformation,” Paul said in the video.
YouTube responded by taking down that video as well, saying that it violated YouTube’s community guidelines. On Tuesday, Paul’s office said that the company imposed a seven-day ban from posting more videos.
We are at a moment of truth and a crossroads. Will we allow these people to use fear and propaganda to do further harm to our society, economy, and children?
Or will we stand together and say, absolutely not. Not this time. I choose freedom. pic.twitter.com/XrI2tjdAHW
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 8, 2021
This is not the first time Paul has faced censorship from YouTube. In 2019, the company took down a video that the senator uploaded in which he mentioned on the Senate floor the name of the alleged whistleblower, whose concern about former President Donald Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president led to his first impeachment.
Paul acknowledged that YouTube, as a private company, has a right to ban them if they want to but said that YouTube is acting as “an arm of the government without any repercussions or push back.”
ICYMI: Kentucky Republican @RandPaul announced Tuesday he has been censored by @YouTube which he described as becoming an "arm of the government." #JustTheNews pic.twitter.com/JXQkIpEpso
— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) August 10, 2021
He advocated for using alternatives to YouTube, such as Rumble.
This form of political censorship goes way beyond the traditional private / public company debate. While many conservatives tend to lean in favor of private companies behaving how they wish, when entities become purveyors of political speech, we start to veer off toward a realm of limiting one’s First Amendment rights. If Big Tech continues on this path, there’s not telling the legal battles they have in store for them.
Donald Trump’s class action lawsuit against the major Big Tech behemoths is the closest we’ve come to imposing any repercussions on Big Tech and their Democrat cohorts.
Author: Nolan Sheridan
