From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Mariane Angela

Podcast host Joe Rogan slammed Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday and condemned remarks that Newsom made amidst the still active and devastating wildfires.

Those fires erupted in the coastal town of Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles County and subsequently spread to Altadena near Eaton Canyon. “The Joe Rogan Experience” host criticized what he said was Newsom’s inappropriate demeanor and how he timed his comments, especially as affected families grappled with the total loss of their homes and personal memories.

“The governor gave this creepy speech where he was talking about speculators coming in. And talking about what to do with the land of all these homes that have been burnt down. It’s still only 6% contained. He did this little dance like I’ve been talking with these, you know, with the governor of Hawaii about what to do. We got some ideas,” Rogan said.

Rogan also said that there are broader issues of mismanagement in California’s approach to wildfire prevention and response. He criticized the state for not taking preventative measures like brush clearing and reservoir management.

“The fire insurance pulled out of California like, I think, like 69% of fire insurance pulled out of California because they’re, like, this is too crazy. Like you guys aren’t doing jack to manage this. You’re not clearing the brush. The amount of money they could have saved by just clearing brush. By filling the reservoir, that 11-million-gallon reservoir was completely empty during the time of full fire season. Like, why didn’t you fix that?” Rogan asked.

As Los Angeles County battles wildfires, Newsom faces intense online criticism for his odd shuffle during a local television interview. On Monday, the governor appeared on Los Angeles’ Fox affiliate, discussing the crisis amidst the scorched ruins.

Newsom, while addressing the likelihood of property speculators targeting fire-stricken neighborhoods, smiled broadly and performed a shoulder shimmy.

Rogan said Newsom behaved in a manner that was “disgusting”

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Ireland Owens

Google soundly rejected the European Union’s push for the platform to censor content Thursday, declaring that it would not implement so-called “fact-checks.”

The tech giant told the EU that it would not incorporate fact checks into its search results and YouTube videos, Axios first reported. Google’s President of Global Affairs Kent Walker wrote a letter to Renate Nikolay, deputy director-general for Communications Networks, Content and Technology at the European Commission, stating the fact-checking required by the law “simply isn’t appropriate or effective for our services.”

The European Commission’s Code of Practice on Disinformation, which was introduced in 2022, would require Google to incorporate fact-check results alongside its search results and YouTube videos and would also require it to incorporate fact-checking into its ranking systems and algorithms, Axios reported.

Axios’ report comes after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Jan. 7 that his company was ending its third-party fact-checking program in favor of implementing community notes. Meta’s announcement states that Meta’s platforms are “built to be places where people can express themselves freely.” Zuckerberg said that his company’s approach to content moderation often resulted in “censorship,” NPR reported.

Zuckerberg recently criticized the European Union’s data laws as “censoring” social media. The EU has rejected his claims as “misleading.”

Some people have criticized some major tech companies, claiming that they have censored conservative speech. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced in October the launch of an investigation into Google for allegedly censoring conservatives.

Zuckerberg criticized Biden officials for pushing Meta to remove content that the Biden-Harris administration alleged to be disinformation during a recent appearance on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.

President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to combat social media censorship.

In December, Trump announced that he was nominating Andrew Ferguson to lead the Federal Trade Commission, stating that Ferguson “has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country.”

Minnesota Republican Rep. Tom Emmer said in a post on X that Google’s decision was a “step in the right direction,” adding “Kudos to @Google.”

A source with knowledge of the matter confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation that the content of Google’s letter as reported by Axios was accurate.