Over the last year, we've alerted our readers to specific RedState articles that Google has demonetized, meaning that no ads can be shown on those articles and RedState doesn't receive any revenue on them, for allegedly violating its guidelines. Google claims the offending articles contain "dangerous or derogatory content" or "unreliable and harmful claims," but what they really contain is content Google and/or the government deem dangerous to groupthink and the accepted narratives – content that might make people question what they're being spoon-fed by legacy media propagandists.
Some might argue that it's not censorship because Google doesn't require that we take the "offending" post down. I'd argue that it's still a form of censorship because it's making it painful to go against the orthodoxy. If RedState can't pay its writers, RedState and the "dangerous" truths and opinions published on the site will go away. (Or so it thinks.)
Since August 2023, Google has demonetized more than 85 RedState stories, and that total is growing every day.
It has demonetized a paragraph-long article from 2010:
Nikki Haley Doubles Down on Truth
And it's demonetized a 2000-word article from 2020:
Google nearly immediately demonetized an article I wrote in March 2024 for correctly stating that California Governor Gavin Newsom only wanted to cure Democrat mail-in ballots so his $6 billion tax increase/ballot referendum would pass.
When we first started tracking the articles that were getting demonetized, they generally fell into a few categories – articles about climate change, the 2020 election and election integrity, LGBTQ/transgender issues, and COVID origins/vaccine. Now, articles covering a variety of topics the ruling class would rather not have covered are all subject to Google's demonetization whims.
Like this piece from Bonchie highlighting lies told by Rep. Ilhan Omar about Israel bombing a hospital in Gaza.
Ilhan Omar Backtracks on Hospital 'Bombing' With Massive Self-Awareness Fail
And this story from Mike Miller about Biden's Border Crisis.
The demonetized articles don't even have to be current. If readers are interested, an article is a potential target.
For example, this 2021 post from Shipwrecked Crew about Hunter Biden's gun and drug issues was flagged on December 31, 2023. A rather relevant topic these days given Hunter's upcoming trials in Delaware and California, right?
A Hunter, a Gun, Some Drugs, Secret Service, and...the FBI? (Part Two)
And this 2021 piece from Sister Toldjah:
Rashida Tlaib Gets 50 Shades of Embarrassed and Then Some in Revealing Axios Interview
Google just demonetized this 2020 piece by Stu Cvrk (about the election) yesterday, flagging it for "unreliable and harmful claims."
Why is Google flagging all these stories?
It's doing it because each flagged article harms our domain score overall, which lowers our ad rates and leads to a lower quality of ads being shown on our site.
It's doing it because we're getting closer to the 2024 election and Google wants to make sure that outlets that practice real journalism are sent a big message: that any criticism of the integrity of the election will not be tolerated.
It's doing it because it wants to send us a message that we're not even safe behind the paywall – it'll flag those articles, too, to punish us.
It's clearer than ever that the only way we will be free from Google's censorship and punishment is to be fully reader-funded. If you appreciate RedState's journalism and commentary, we need your support as a VIP member. Join here (and get 50% off with code SAVEAMERICA).
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