October 29, 2020

Social Media Giants Have a Giant Censorship Problem

They are using their immense power to suppress the arguments of one political side and promote the arguments of another.

By Jeff Brain

Social media censorship is destroying civil discourse and threatening our fundamental rights. It needs to be reined in, but with a focus on combating censorship by the worst offenders and not changing the free-market nature of the entire social media universe.


Free speech is a critical component of a free society, which is why tyrants throughout the ages have sought to stamp it out. Yet for perhaps the first time in human history, the threat to this most fundamental freedom comes not from a totalitarian regime or a corrupt religious institution but from private entities.

On Wednesday, the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook, and Google testified before Congress about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides social media companies legal protections from liability for the comments and/or actions of those who use their platforms.



The crux of the argument on which these protections rest is that these entities are supposed to be objective moderators of discourse who merely provide a space for interaction between users. They have clearly abandoned this mission and should therefore forfeit their liability protections.



After a series of bombshell revelations about Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son Hunter were published in the New York Post and The National Pulse, Big Tech companies like Facebook and Twitter engaged in a systematic and shamelessly transparent campaign to suppress discussion of the news, even going as far as removing people’s posts sharing the article. But this was just the latest instance of a worrying and dangerous trend.

Over the past few months we’ve witnessed these social media giants remove videos of doctors discussing potential COVID treatments, put bogus warning labels on news stories questioning the lockdowns, and routinely suspend or ban the accounts of those who question certain orthodoxies.

Social media is our modern-day town square. There are many serious challenges facing today’s society and the world. Big Tech social media is deciding what topics and sides are allowed to be discussed.

Social media platforms drive public opinion, shaping the policy decisions in communities as well as Washington. These policies have far-reaching consequences. I believe there must be a place where people can openly and freely express their ideas on the issues they care about. 

In reality, they are using their immense power to suppress the arguments of one political side and promote the arguments of another. They are not acting as objective, unbiased moderators of debate. They have chosen a side and are doing whatever they can to help that side win, and in doing so silencing and othering the opposition. This is fuel poured directly on the fire of social disunity.


The biased behavior of tech giants like Facebook and Twitter is not only ethically wrong and socially damaging but it also clearly violates the law and the spirit of Section 230.

Regardless of the intricacies of U.S. communications legislation, more speech — not less — is always good for society. No opinion, let alone factual news story, should be too controversial or too offensive to share.



But while the threat posed by the Big Tech social media censors is obvious to anyone who doesn’t approve of their blatant biased behavior, the solution to that threat might not be as clear. While it’s tempting to call for the government to straighten out these bad actors, doing so could set a dangerous precedent.

Permitting the government to control the means of social communication and debate would be just as dangerous as letting unaccountable private entities do the same. The answer is competition; the emergence of new platforms truly dedicated to free speech and run by individuals who truly value it.

Thankfully, we are already seeing such a challenge to the censorship-friendly status quo in the form of platforms like Parler and CloutHub. This new, free-speech-friendly generation of social media platforms knows that the general public can figure out for itself what’s right or wrong, what’s true or what’s false. They know that we the people have a right to hear all sides and a right to decide what we believe and support.

Yes, people can be silly and say things that are stupid, offensive, or even morally wrong. But that’s the price of free speech. It is a small price to pay for free expression, free thought, and a free society.

Jeff Brain is founder and CEO of CloutHub, a social network for meaningful civic, social, and political networking and engagement.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.