Article by Jeff Charles in RedState
Dan Bongino Lays Down the Truth About Biden's Attack on Free Speech
The Biden administration has been the subject of criticism this week due to its questionable approach to addressing supposed “misinformation” about the COVID-19 pandemic and the vaccine. During a tense back-and-forth between White House press secretary Jen Psaki and Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy, she seemed to admit that the administration is keeping track of people whom they believe are spreading false information about the pandemic on social media.
Political commentator and host of Fox News’ “Unfiltered” Dan Bongino addressed the issue on Friday, cautioning that the First Amendment is being targeted by the Democrats. He indicated that the federal government is keeping a list of people who post opinions and information on COVID-19 that it deems false. He also pointed out that the administration seeks to “deputize” social media companies like Facebook and Twitter to filter out perspectives with which it does not agree.
Bongino responded to the confrontation between Psaki and Doocy, arguing that it demonstrates that the situation with the First Amendment is “deadly serious.”
“There is no secret list. I will tell you these are people who are sharing information on public platforms on Facebook,” Psaki said during the exchange.
“So there is a list,” host Pete Hegseth said.
Bongino responded, stating that “we have crossed a red line here” and that “the Bill of Rights tells you what the government can’t do to you.”
He continued:
“So what the government can’t do is infringe on your free speech except in very limited circumstances. Pete, what they also can’t do is, if they want to crush your free speech because they don’t like your opinion on the vaccine or your opinion on COVID lockdowns, is they can’t deputize another one and say go forth to love and serve and do can’t do (sic).”
The host and former Secret Service agent asserted that there are “no assurances” that the budding collaboration between the Biden administration and social media companies won’t escalate further as the upcoming midterm elections grow closer. Even further, Bongino insisted that this issue is more critical than other issues like government spending or tax reform:
“This is the single most important political issue of our time: Literally the ability to speak in the public square. What’s the point of arguing tax rates if you can’t argue because you have been banned from the new public square social media? If you are not running on this, 2022 election and 2024 as your number one issue, please exit stage left.”
Bongino is assessing the situation accurately. President Joe Biden and his merry band of Democrats in Congress are taking aim at free speech online. While Big Tech has already shown they are willing to suppress conservative perspectives, it appears their censorship practices are not censorious enough for the Democrats’ liking.
Psaki already let the proverbial cat out of the bag when she admitted the Biden administration is “in regular touch with the social media platforms” about supposed “misinformation” being proliferated online. Combine this with the revelation that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is planning to pressure certain companies to censor text messages containing inaccurate information about the coronavirus, and it is easy to see that the left has no problem with threatening free speech.
Bongino’s contention that this issue is far more important than the others that the nation is facing is also apt, given the fact that the left is engaged in a concerted effort to make it more difficult for conservatives to effectively communicate their opinions and ideas. We have already seen the leftists who run companies like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others throttle right-leaning messages on their platforms.
But with the government pushing these companies to take censorship further, the situation has become more dire. If conservatives don’t hone in on this issue with laser-like focus, they risk having their free speech curtailed more than it already is.
