Hillary Clinton Calls for Stricter Online Censorship as Establishment Fears Losing “Total Control”

From Reclaim The Net

In an interview with CNN, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed her pressing need for social media companies to enhance censorship measures, suggesting that failure to do so would lead to the loss of “total control.” This declaration aligns with broader concerns expressed by figures within the Democratic Party regarding the control of information online.

Clinton’s remarks come in the wake of substantial changes in the space of online expression, notably influenced by Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter in 2022. Under Musk’s stewardship, the platform, now rebranded as X, has championed a more laissez-faire approach to content moderation. This stance has facilitated a pushback against what some perceive as misleading mainstream narratives, particularly evident in the recent coverage of FEMA’s reported mishandling of hurricane relief efforts in North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee – a narrative that the government is calling “misinformation.”

During her conversation with Michael Smerconish, Clinton criticized the existing legal framework that she believes enables unchecked content dissemination. “We should be, in my view, repealing something called Section 230, which gave platforms on the internet immunity because they were thought to be just pass-throughs, that they shouldn’t be judged for the content that is posted,” she explained. “If they don’t moderate and monitor the content, we lose total control,” Clinton argued, using the think of the children argument.

She argues that this perspective is outdated and that without active moderation from platforms like Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, and TikTok, the consequences extend beyond mere social and psychological impacts to encompass real-world harm.

Adding to the discourse, John Kerry recently echoed similar sentiments at a World Economic Forum sustainability meeting, bemoaning the obstacles the First Amendment poses in controlling information flow. “It’s really hard to govern today. The referees we used to have to determine what’s a fact and what isn’t a fact has been eviscerated to a certain degree,” Kerry stated.

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Related Topics:#ElonMusk #ReclaimTheNet HillaryClinton OnlineCensorship x

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Trump signs executive order banning government censorship

Published on January 20, 2025

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From The Center Square

By Dan McCaleb

President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order banning the federal government from taking any action to restrict Americans free speech rights.

The order ensures “that no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen.”

It also ensures “that no taxpayer resources are used to engage in or facilitate any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen” and “identify and take appropriate action to correct past misconduct by the Federal Government related to censorship of protected speech.”

Meta earlier this month ended its practice of censoring posts on Facebook, Instagram and Threads after CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that the Biden administration pressured the company to remove posts related to COVID-19, the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections – including suppressing the New York Post’s explosive story on Hunter Biden’s laptop – and other matters.

“We started building social media to give people a voice,” Zuckerberg said in announcing the decision. “What started as a movement to be more inclusive has increasingly been used to shut down opinions and shut out people with different ideas, and it’s gone too far.”

Twitter, now X, also removed posts under pressure from the Biden administration before Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk bought the social media platform in 2022.

Trump’s executive order also instructs the U.S. Attorney General to investigate past cases of government censorship.

“The Attorney General, in consultation with the heads of executive departments and agencies, shall investigate the activities of the Federal Government over the last 4 years that are inconsistent with the purposes and policies of this order and prepare a report to be submitted to the President, through the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, with recommendations for appropriate remedial actions to be taken based on the findings of the report,” the order states.

Dan McCaleb is the executive editor of The Center Square. He welcomes your comments. Contact Dan at [email protected].

Dan McCaleb

Executive Editor

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UK lawmaker threatens to use Online Safety Act to censor social media platforms

Published on January 20, 2025

Todayville

From LifeSiteNews

By Didi Rankovic

Labour MP Lola McEvoy defended the Online Safety Act’s censorious measures, including bans and fines for social media platforms which ‘don’t comply’ with the strict age verification law.

Politicians from the U.K.’s ruling Labour party are starting to openly “out” the country’s Online Safety Act for the sweeping censorship law that its opponents have all along been warning it is.

The extreme case of using the law to completely ban social media platforms in the U.K. is now being promoted as a possibility by Labour MP Lola McEvoy.

“If these big platforms that have huge users don’t comply with the Online Safety Act, then they have no right to be accessed in this country,” the MP said while appearing on a podcast, adding, “So I think that’s what the law’s about.”

The masks are coming off, prompted by the latest clash between the government and Prime Minister Keir Starmer in particular and X owner Elon Musk – who criticized their role in a historical child sex exploitation scandal in the U.K.

In addition to saying that failure to comply with the law could result in the platforms getting banned, McEvoy suggested that “unelected citizens from other countries” should not be allowed to criticize U.K.’s government – she justified this by saying the criticism of Minister for Safeguarding Jess Phillips created “a very dangerous situation,” equating it to “bullying and harassment.”

McEvoy even made a point of public figures needing to be even more aggressively protected through censorship – effectively from whatever the government backing those figures decides to pack into the vague categories such as “bullying” and “harassment,” and in that way deal with critical, including legitimate, speech.

And where would any controversial call to step up online censorship be without getting served to the public as a way to above all – protect children?

McEvoy spoke about regulator Ofcom’s powers, which she described as “really significant” in enforcing the fines under the law that is being gradually implemented.

And as that is happening, this MP wants the Online Safety Act to be “strengthened” where it concerns the focus on things it treats as harmful to children, such as access to illegal content or pornography.

Reprinted with permission from Reclaim The Net.