Well, it seems that it’s not just the corporate press who is attempting to convince America to live under endless COVID-19 shutdown orders. Social media companies have also gotten into the act, silencing those who question the wisdom of indefinite coronavirus restrictions that have threatened the freedom of many. Most recently, YouTube deleted a video in which two California doctors argued that states should begin reopening their economies.

On April 22, 23ABC News published a report in which Accelerated Urgent Care doctors Dan Erickson and Artin Masshi discussed the Wuhan virus and how the U.S. should reopen the economy. The two doctors indicated that states should begin to restart commerce while taking precautions to prevent a resurgence of the disease.

Today, 23ABC News’ Veronica Morley reported that YouTube had deleted the video. “23ABC News verified on our YouTube page that the first part of the press briefing is no longer available. We have submitted an appeal to YouTube, but have not heard back yet,” she wrote.

The video went viral, with over 5.46 million views. Dr. Erickson responded to YouTube’s censorship, saying that “Anytime you push against the grain, you are going to have people who don’t like it.”

The facility at which the doctors work has performed over 5,000 coronavirus tests. In the video, they stated that “The death rate of the coronavirus is similar in prevalence to the flu.”

Drs. Dan Erickson and Artin Massihi, who co-own Accelerated Urgent Care facilities in Kern County, said, “The death rate of the coronavirus is similar in prevalence to the flu,” according to ABC 23. Erickson explained:

“If you study the numbers in 2017 and 2018, we had 50 to 60 million with the flu, and we had a similar death rate in the deaths the United States were 43,545 — similar to the flu of 2017-2018. We always have between 37,000 and 60,000 deaths in the United States, every single year. No pandemic talk. No shelter-in-place. No shutting down businesses.”

During the press briefing, Dr. Erickson indicated that the nation no longer needs to live under stay-at-home orders. “Do we need to still shelter in place? Our answer is emphatically no,” he insisted. “Do we need businesses to be shut down? Emphatically no. Do we need to test them and get them back to work? Absolutely.”

Erickson continued: “If you’re going to dance on someone’s constitutional rights you better have a good reason, you better have a really good reason, not just a theory. The data is showing us it’s time to lift (the stay-at-home orders) so if we don’t lift, what is the reason?”

Morley’s report also included commentary from Dr. George Rutherford, who disagreed with Erickson and Massihi’s assessment. “What we’re trying to do is prevent people from dying, that’s what we’re trying to do in the Bay Area,” he said. “The early projections were that there would be 44,000 deaths in the Bay Area. There have been 210 so far, so I think we’re doing pretty damn good, and I’ve certainly don’t want to mess with that kind of success.”

Despite the fact that the video shows both sides of the debate, YouTube still believed it was necessary to take it down. Social media companies like YouTube – which is owned by search engine giant Google – are led and staffed predominantly by leftists. These entities are already known for squelching voices that don’t fall in line with the progressive agenda, and this is just another example of how the far left is trying to ensure that the American public heeds their arguments.

Of course, they’re not admitting to pursuing a specific agenda. Instead, companies like YouTube and Facebook claim they are engaging in this censorious behavior because they want to make sure that the public isn’t misinformed.

This censorship is part of an attempt to scare Americans enough to comply with ongoing restrictions on their freedoms. Nevertheless, states are beginning to reopen their economies despite the left’s constant pearl clutching. So far, all indications suggest that a return to normalcy is going to happen sooner rather than later.

Let me know what you think in the comments below!

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