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Social media platforms have restricted 808 posts about COVID-19 as part of an effort to reduce misinformation about vaccines since the pandemic began, according to a new report from a conservative media watchdog.
The Media Research Center’s CensorTrack Report: The COVID-19 report found that restrictions affected seven members of Congress, 41 medical and science professionals, 70 media personalities and 21 news organizations this year between March 17, 2020, and February 3.
The list of restricted social media users ranged from podcaster Joe Rogan and Fox News host Tucker Carlson to libertarian Reason Magazine and the British Medical Journal.
“Big technology has taken advantage of the virus to gain more power over what can be said online,” said Brent Bozell, head of the research centre. “No matter who you are – commentators, senators, congressmen, even doctors – Big Tech can silence you the same way Communist China censors any dissent.”
The report found that Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Ads, TikTok, and YouTube restrict users by limiting the access of their posts, suspending their accounts for information checking, and even banning some users.
On December 29, Twitter tweeted that vaccine skeptic Dr. COVID-19.”
Dr. Shortly after Malone repeated his criticism of the vaccines, he permanently banned his Twitter account, and YouTube removed videos of his interview with Mr. Rogan on Spotify.
Mr Bozell said the restrictions amounted to a form of “censorship” aimed at conservatives who question the information social media platforms otherwise promote about COVID-19 restrictions and health policies.
“They don’t allow discussion even though they’ve been proven wrong on everything from the Wuhan lab leak to the quarantine,” he said. “No nation can remain free if big technology has this much power over speech.”
But James Grossman, executive director of the American Historical Association, said that US legal precedent allows social media platforms to suspend or ban people who post “deliberate misinformation” during a public health crisis.
“Demanding the right to spread blatant misinformation in the context of a national public health emergency is equivalent to demanding the right to shout ‘Fire’ in a crowded theater,” Grossman said. USA from COVID-19. “The Supreme Court has ruled in the past that public health emergencies create a policy context different from day-to-day business.”
Free speech protections don’t apply to misinformation about vaccines, he added.
“The science is clear and public health depends on a national effort to defeat this virus,” said Mr. Grossman. Said. “Vaccination is a public health policy that can save lives only if a critical mass of Americans are vaccinated.”
The Center for Media Research said in a press release that its database team has recorded “a total of 3,318 cases of censorship on numerous Big Tech platforms on numerous topics including elections, COVID-19, climate change and race.” Each entry includes a written report supported by records and documents.
According to the report, “The worst documented case of COVID-19 censorship came from Facebook.”
“The platform has deleted the account page of the Great Barrington Declaration,” says a summary of the report. According to a study at Johns Hopkins University, leading international disease experts have developed the statement against the harsh COVID-19 quarantines imposed on citizens by many world governments, measures that have been shown to have ‘little or no impact’ on COVID-19 mortality. ”
Facebook, which has been meta-restructured, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
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