United States Senator from Missouri Eric Schmitt on the Weaponization of Big Tech

"The First Amendment is the heartbeat of our constitution," says the good Senator from Missouri, Eric Schmitt.

In the ongoing self immolation of the demonic Left, we see rising to the occasion of a nation experiencing a near death experience, one hero after another to seize the torch of Liberty and run with it for all of us!

_{I talk about this article in my latest podcast...}

Sen Schmitt on Gov Weaponization | RRM Report 58
_{Ruby Ray Media Reports with Franz Glaus
Published March 30 2023
Length 40:22}

Sen Eric Schmitt describes the massive "speech censorship operation"
_{RubyRayMedia on Rumble
Published March 30 2023
Length 7:17 (transcript below video)}

Senator Eric Schmitt 0:00
Chairman Jim Jordan, Ranking Member Plaskett, and members of the Select Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to be here today to discuss this important issue. The First Amendment is the beating heart of our Constitution. The First Amendment is integral to maintaining our republican form of government and the belief that we are a country of free people, not oppressive government. The Biden administration has led the largest speech censorship operation in recent American history. Since taking office, President Biden and his team have labored to suppress viewpoints with which they disagree. And in doing so, they have infringed upon the individual freedoms of millions of Americans. And no matter what your political affiliation is, government censorship should concern everyone.

The Biden administration has coerced, cajoled, and colluded with social media companies to censor disfavored speech. The Biden team has publicly threatened social media companies with removing legal protections, blamed social media companies for societal problems, accused social media companies of killing people, and these social media companies, some of the biggest companies in the history of the world, willingly took part in this Orwellian vast censorship enterprise.

On multiple occasions, President Biden and his team have threatened to punish social media companies that did not sufficiently censor Biden's political opposition by revoking section 230. Biden suggested Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg should be subject to civil liability and potential criminal prosecution for not censoring political speech. President Biden also repeatedly accused social media companies of quote killing people by not censoring enough disfavored speech. The Biden administration has threatened and attacked social media companies so that those social media companies would censor speech the Biden administration dislikes.

Until the Missouri versus Biden lawsuit and later the Twitter files, the Biden administration's efforts to pressure and collude with social media companies was behind the scenes through meetings and emails, and was unknown. On behalf of Missouri and Louisiana, I was proud to join with general Landry to sue the Biden administration for violating the First Amendment through this vast censorship enterprise. This lawsuit alleges the Biden administration including President Biden himself and members of his team pressured and colluded with social media giants to censor free speech in the name of combating so-called disinformation and misinformation, which led ro the suppression and censorship of truthful information on a scale never seen before. The lawsuit provides example after example of truthful information that was censored by social media companies that were admitted at a later date to be truthful or credible, including the Hunter Biden laptop story, the COVID-19 Lab Leak theory, and the efficacy of masks.

Discovery obtained by Missouri and Louisiana demonstrated the Biden administration's coordination with social media companies and collusion with nonprofits to censor speech was far more pervasive and destructive than ever known. Documents reveal multiple White House officials from the former press secretary to the Digital Director relentlessly pressuring social media companies to remove specific posts or accounts or expand censorship practices. The White House wanted posts censored from Fox News host Tucker Carlson, even though Facebook found that the content did not violate its policies. The White House also asked for unfavorable news to be put quote in context with specific talking points, along with amplification of Biden administration messaging in FAQs.

Missouri and Louisiana also deposed Dr. Anthony Fauci. This deposition showed that when Dr. Fauci spoke, big tech censored. For example, Dr. Fauci was aware early in the pandemic that his agency had funded dangerous gain of function research on the Coronavirus at the Wuhan lab with Wuhan Institute of Virology. But he sought to discredit and suppress the theory that COVID-19 leaked from a lab to deflect blame and avoid potential responsibility for the pandemic. In his deposition, Dr. Fauci claimed 174 times that he could not recall, including about critical details related to gain of function research, and other issues associated with the lab leak theory and the government's response to the pandemic. Because of Dr. Fauci's influence, social media platforms censored the lab leak theory and other COVID-19 viewpoints that Dr. Fauci and his cabal of experts disfavored.

Missouri and Louisiana also deposed the FBI agent about the Hunter Biden laptop story. This deposition in relevant documents revealed that the FBI deliberately planted false information about hack-and-leak operations in advance of the Hunter Biden laptop story coming out in order to deceive social media platforms into censoring the Hunter Biden laptop story. The FBI also flagged social media accounts for censorship on a monthly basis, and have an estimated 50% success rate in getting reported disinformation removed or censored.

The Missouri versus Biden lawsuit also obtained documents revealing that multiple federal agencies have pressured and colluded with big tech or social media companies to flag and censor a large number of accounts and posts, especially related to public health and elections. The federal government has even created public private partnerships to expand its censorship reach. Without the Missouri versus Biden lawsuit and the subsequent disclosures in the Twitter files, Americans would have never known about the Biden administration's coordination, collusion, and coercion to censor speech.

President Biden and his administration may lust for its own ministry of truth. But I, along with millions of Americans, will never stop fighting for the God-given right to speak your mind. Freedom of expression. Freedom of speech. Americans have enshrined the First Amendment in our Constitution more than 230 years ago, for good reason. And for times such as these, we cannot allow the Biden administration to infringe upon the freedoms that we cherish and that have been purchased by the sacrifice of millions of Americans. Freedom of speech is vital to our country and our people. In many ways, it's our pressure release valve. We must stop the Biden administration's threat to free speech so that America can remain the freest country in the history of the world. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

RELATED

What exactly does it mean to "weaponize" the government?

You should watch Chairman Jim Jordan's subcommittee that is on live TV this week!

What does "weaponization of government" mean?

Simple, it's the way predatory psychopaths behave in government when they remove natural rights from the people.

Like Moses' simple Ten Commandments, these wack jobs need it spelled out in simple terms and even that doesn't work for them.