By this point, the flood of leaks coming from whistleblowers and congressional investigations has essentially proven beyond a doubt that the Biden administration has been acting in cahoots with Facebook, Twitter, and other social media portals to censor “misinformation.” For those who don’t have their pocket government-speak dictionaries handy, that means any thoughts or opinions that go against the current administration’s narrative. Secret portals were set up to allow Department of Justice officials to “flag” social media posts they don’t like and the Big Tech flunkies were more than happy to squash those opinions. Monthly meetings were scheduled between Homeland Security personnel and people at Meta. At this point, the Emporer clearly has no clothes.
Despite the fact that virtually nobody in the mainstream media is touching this story about blatant, unconstitutional censorship by the federal government with a ten-foot pole, a few reporters have finally proven brazen enough to ask the White House about it. What has the administration had to say in response? Check out the uncomfortably awkward exchanges between two reporters and Karine Jean-Pierre. Multiple attempts at obfuscation were followed by a flat denial of something that is already painfully obvious. (NY Post)
The White House doesn’t use a secret Facebook portal to request the removal of alleged “misinformation,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday when asked about a bombshell report laying out how government officials get tech firms to manipulate online speech — after her predecessor Jen Psaki said last year the White House was “flagging” posts it didn’t like to social media companies.
When pressed by The Post, Jean-Pierre said firmly that “no,” the White House does not use the recently exposed portal to request the removal of Facebook or Instagram posts.
The Intercept on Monday revealed the existence of the apparently still-active portal through which users with a government or law enforcement email address can submit content for deletion.
Here is the video of that press conference queued up to the first question about the Big Tech portal. Enjoy the awkwardness.
You can watch the metamorphosis taking place in KJP’s answers to the question posed in two parts by two reporters. At first she appears to be simply acting as if the White House is “opposed to disinformation.” She seems to think that was a softball question she could bat away and move on. She said that the White House “remains fully committed to our mission to protect the security and resilience of our elections and safeguard election infrastructure. That includes combating disinformation.”
Fortunately, KJP wasn’t allowed to toss out a throwaway line and wander away. She was then specifically asked about the Meta portal that was referenced in the Intercept article and reminded that Jen Psaki had said last year that the White House was “flagging” social media posts for special scrutiny. So is the White House still “flagging” social media posts in this fashion? Seemingly realizing she might be walking into a trap, she said, “I don’t have anything more to add. This is a Department of Homeland Security [matter] that I would refer you to.”
A reporter from the Post still didn’t let her off the hook. He specifically asked if the White House was making use of the portal. At that point she looked quite uncomfortable before simply saying “no.”
That nonspecific answer doesn’t tell the entire story, however. It might technically be true if they were having someone else (perhaps at DHS) use the portal for them. Or they could be doing it through text messages or phone calls to avoid a paper trail, as some whistleblowers have already indicated.
The bottom line is that the White House clearly seems to by lying to the American public about this. They are absolutely engaging with Big Tech to shut down anything they classify as “misinformation.” Or more accurately, anything that might endanger the Democrats’ electoral chances. This is government censorship by proxy and it is obviously unconstitutional. If the GOP takes control of either chamber next week (preferably both), there need to be full investigations into this activity. And while I’m not one to call for frivolous pursuits of impeachment for political reasons, if it’s proven that the Biden administration has been engaging in violations of the First Amendment in this fashion, Joe Biden needs to be removed from office, even if it means we’re stuck with Kamala Harris, who would arguably be worse.
