The censorship trend, which we have continually detailed in the Trends Journal, continues to escalate.
Social media giant Facebook pulled the plug on a group called “Stop the Steal,” which was created shortly after President Trump claimed troubling irregularities during the 2020 election.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the company’s decision was based on the group’s focus on the “delegitimization of the election process” and after “worrying calls for violence from some members of the group.”
In a statement to the Associated Press, Facebook said,
“In line with the exceptional measures that we are taking during this period of heightened tension, we have removed the Group ‘Stop the Steal,’ which was creating real-world events… The group was organized around the delegitimization of the election process, and we saw worrying calls for violence from some members of the group.”
President Trump and his supporters have accused the tech giants of playing politics and promoting Democrats while damaging Republicans. One recent incident involved news reports on Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son, and his international business dealings while his father was VP. Twitter banned the New York Post from posting about the story and has frequently posted warnings on tweets from the president.
The WSJ reported that the “Stop the Steal” group obtained 361,000 members within a day of its release. The report said Facebook also removed an anti-lockdown group called “Stand Up Michigan to Unlock Michigan.”
TREND FORECAST: President Trump took to Twitter last Friday to call Jack Dorsey’s company “out of control.” He blamed Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which Dorsey himself called “the most important law protecting internet speech. In removing Section 230, we will remove speech from the internet.”
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said Section 230 protects these companies from “endless and potentially ruinous lawsuits,” but has “also given these internet platforms the ability to control, stifle, and even censor content in whatever manner meets their respective standards.”
President Trump has been a vocal critic of these tech companies that he says favors Democrats.
No matter who becomes president, Section 230 seems to be under fire. Joe Biden has said these platforms don’t do enough to stop misinformation and also says major changes are needed. Thus, should he take the helm as President, we forecast increased Internet and media censorship.