On March 26, 2021, White House digital director Rob Flaherty e-mailed Facebook, asking what sort of restrictions the social-media company was going to put on the New York Post.
“I’m curious — NY Post churning out articles every day about people dying. What is supposed to happen to that from Policy perspective. Does that article get a reduction, labels?”
What we were “churning out” was the occasional news piece about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine based on the information we had at the time (even as we also advocated for taking it in editorials).
So for those keeping score at home, social-media censorship of The Post included:
Saying we couldn’t publish Hunter Biden’s laptop because it was fake or hacked.
It was neither.
Censoring our speculation that COVID leaked from a lab.
It most likely did.
Trying to restrict our coverage of COVID, even though we were advocating for people to get the vaccine — while running stories about the questions everyone was asking.
So that’s three times Silicon Valley, under pressure from the White House, went after true news.
But “facts” aren’t what they’re after.
On the day of Rob Flaherty’s note, The Post’s front page was “Glazed and Confused,” about President Biden’s obvious mental problems.
But they don’t want you to read about that.
Or about the open border.
Or any of the dozens of policies this administration tries to keep quiet.
There is absolutely no reason for the government to be pressuring social-media companies to ban or delete articles and opinions.
It is pure propaganda and contrary to the spirit of the First Amendment.
They’re not protecting you.
They’re protecting themselves.
