Dems use Facebook scandal to ramp up speech police
As Joe Biden drops in popularity and every one of the issues of their agenda has become more unpopular, they're going to try to increase and weaponize the federal government.
The hosts of the conservative "Ruthless" podcast sounded the alarm on the Facebook whistleblower who testified on Capitol Hill, warning that Democrats and the corporate media are using her as a launching pad to censor political speech.
Josh Holmes kicked off the discussion by tackling the narrative that Frances Haugen, the former civic project manager for Facebook who testified this week before the Senate Commerce Committee, is some sort of "hero" for speaking out against Facebook's alleged wrongdoings.
"First of all, she's a leftwing activist. … Long, long record of activism, contributions to not just like establishment Democrats, we're talking about like, movement progressives, right?" Holmes began on Thursday's podcast. "But all of this is coached up by a guy that she's hired named Bill Burton."
Holmes said Burton was a former press aide in the Obama administration and is a board member for the Center for Humane Technology, a group that Holmes claims aims "to change content policies that favor corporate media over individual voices or alternative media."
"They hate things like ‘Ruthless.’ …. What they want is to basically make The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC the only purveyors of information in this country," Holmes maintained.
Co-host Comfortably Smug chimed in, saying "it's all interconnected" with Big Tech's silencing of conservative voices in the name of preventing the spread of "disinformation."
"They don't give a s--- about disinformation," added Michael Duncan, another host.
Former Facebook employee and whistleblower Frances Haugen testifies during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing entitled 'Protecting Kids Online: Testimony from a Facebook Whistleblower' on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Oct. 05, 2021 in Washington, DC. Featuring: Frances Haugen Where: Washington, District Of Columbia, United States When: 05 Oct 2021 Credit: POOL via CNP/INSTARimages/Cover Images (POOL via CNP/INSTARimages/Cover Images)
Holmes said Burton also served as a campaign adviser for Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn, who sits on the Senate committee that invited Haugen to testify.
"Weird how that works," Smug and Duncan reacted in unison, with Duncan adding, "And then suddenly, this whistleblower has a new Twitter account that gets verified immediately right before she goes and testifies on Capitol Hill."
Holmes then blasted Senate Republicans at Tuesday's hearing, saying, "They did a horrible job."
"They took this woman as if she was a good-faith actor and allowed her unquestioned, basically, to spread misinformation that is entirely designed to shut off conservative voices in purveying any information in this country," Holmes said.
"This entire whistleblower process is a Trojan horse to silence conservative voices. And it's the media in this Democratic dark money universe that is the undercurrent behind all of this because they know two things," Duncan responded. "No. 1, conservatives do better online, right? The Big Three broadcast channels, cable news, the corporate media they control can set us aside and can set the narrative. Our only way of breaking through that narrative is with the internet, right? And so if they can try to Trojan horse this whistleblower into the United States Senate and convince these Republican senators, 'Oh, actually, Facebook's the problem,' then they're gonna have us do their work for them."
WHISTLEBLOWER SAYS FACEBOOK IS A US 'NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE'
Smug stressed that "this is about business," pointing to how so-called "disinformation" reporters attempt to gin up outrage over how the top 10 most-viewed Facebook posts are often dominated by conservatives.
"All the left-wing corporate media is basically like, 'Oh, conservatives are getting the most-viewed posts. We should attack Facebook. Make sure they're not heard,'" Smug said.
"These people are the most undemocratic people in our politics," Duncan declared.
"And this is why I was so upset about what Senate Republicans did at this hearing yesterday, because first of all, if you ever have a congressional hearing where the Sunday before is previewed by ‘60 Minutes,’ hold on to your wallet," Holmes said. "Hold on to your wallet because whatever that is, it is entirely designed by a left-wing ecosystem and a corporate media to try to purvey its own sense of misinformation about whatever's to come."
Holmes railed against Haugen for attempting to connect Facebook's shutdown of its election integrity division following the 2020 presidential election to the Jan. 6 riot, saying, "That's her entire framework for why she's in this discussion now."
"She goes on to say all of these things about Instagram and child safety and research issues, but it's worth pointing out at no point did she ever work at Instagram or Facebook on any of those issues," Holmes added.
Duncan said he welcomed a "national discussion" about the impact technology and social media have on kids, but called what is taking place a "sleight of hand."
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The hosts blasted the media and Big Tech over the spread of real misinformation like the whipping narrative that was pushed at the southern border last month.
"I'm tired of it. I'm tired of it," Holmes said. "We need to get the senators and congressmen on Capitol Hill to wake up because the left is trying to literally turn off the microphone to every conservative outlet in America. And if you don't start understanding this, and if you don't start pushing back and playing some offense, let alone good defense, we're gonna be in a world of trouble."
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