Politics

Twitter censors Marsha Blackburn Senate announcement over pro-life stance

This is what liberals really mean by “free speech.” On Monday, the Washington Examiner reported that Twitter blocked a digital ad posted by Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who announced her run for the Senate seat currently held by GOP moderate Bob Corker.

According to the report, the ad was censored over Blackburn’s statement that she “fought Planned Parenthood,” and “stopped the sale of baby body parts, thank God.”  According to Twitter, that was an “inflammatory statement” related to abortion.

Here’s the ad:

https://twitter.com/bakedalaska/status/917499813523996672

Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?

The Examiner reported:

An employee of Twitter told Blackburn’s team the ad would be blocked from appearing on the popular social media site unless Blackburn’s claim that she “stopped the sale of baby body parts” while serving in Congress is edited out. Boasting of shutting down that aspect of Planned Parenthood’s operation constituted “an inflammatory statement that is likely to evoke a strong negative reaction,” Twitter told Blackburn’s campaign.

Let’s put this into perspective.  Social media sites are now telling politicians what they can and can’t say in their advertisements.

Breitbart added:

This referred to her chairing the House Select Investigative Panel on Planned Parenthood, which was created after the Center for Medical Progress released explosive undercover videos of Planned Parenthood personnel boasting about their collection of body parts from unborn children to sell for medical research.

The remainder of Blackburn’s two-and-a-half minute video announcement showcases her other many conservative credentials, from her ardent opposition to Obamacare, to her perfect record supporting the Second Amendment, to her 100 percent pro-life rating.

Blackburn’s campaign responded by urging supporters to share the ad elsewhere on social media and join her “in standing up to Silicon Valley.”

And they did.

The Hill added:

A Twitter spokesman confirmed that the platform had suspended the promoted advertisement from the campaign’s account, though he emphasized that the original tweet remains up.

The spokesman also pointed to a passage from the company’s public advertising policy that reads, “Twitter provides a platform for its users to share and receive a wide range of ideas and content, and we greatly value and defend our users’ ability to express themselves.”

One word: Hogwash.

Blackburn, who chairs a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on technology, told supporters, “I’m being censored for telling the truth.”  Join the club.

She added: “Twitter has shut down my announcement video advertising. Silicon Valley elites are trying to impose their values on us. When I talked about our legislative accomplishments to stop the sale of baby body parts, they responded by calling our ad ‘inflammatory’ and ‘negative.’”

Reaction on Twitter was pretty much what you’d expect:

https://twitter.com/dbongino/status/917495574328500231

Actually, it’s very believable.

https://twitter.com/AndrewWMullins/status/917488095288840193

https://twitter.com/thebradfordfile/status/917591168543752192

As Adina Kutnicki and I explain in our book, Banned: How Facebook enables militant Islamic jihad, the reason this censorship happens is because federal law — specifically Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 — allows it.  Combine that with the liberalism that apparently dominates companies like Twitter and the result is Orwellian censorship.

Which means the only way this can be adequately addressed is for Congress to take action.  Unfortunately, Republicans have been missing in action so far…

The Examiner added:

Twitter has come under fire on numerous occasions for stifling certain opinions on its platform. Most notably, the social media giant indefinitely suspended alt-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulous last February for bad behavior and harassment.

What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.

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And if you’re as concerned about Facebook censorship as we are, go here and order this book (Remember, half of what we earn will be donated to Hurricane Harvey relief):

Banned: How Facebook enables militant Islamic jihad
Banned: How Facebook enables militant Islamic jihad – Source: Author (used with permission)

 

Joe Newby

A 10-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Joe ran for a city council position in Riverside, Calif., in 1991 and managed successful campaigns for the Idaho state legislature. Co-author of "Banned: How Facebook enables militant Islamic jihad," Joe wrote for Examiner.com from 2010 until it closed in 2016 and his work has been published at Newsbusters, Spokane Faith and Values and other sites. He now runs the Conservative Firing Line.

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