How often do we read articles or op-eds containing references to George Orwell’s “1984” or other visions of Dystopia? The question is rhetorical, but if you’re among those who have dismissed or even scoffed at the notion of “the deep state,” it’s past time to stop scoffing and start paying attention to reality.
Here’s one such reality: A group of former Defense, Intelligence, Homeland Security, and cyber officials are calling for a national security review of Congressional legislation against the monopolization of Big Tech. As reported by investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald on Wednesday:
A group of former intelligence and national security officials on Monday issued a jointly signed letter warning that pending legislative attempts to restrict or break up the power of Big Tech monopolies — Facebook, Google, and Amazon — would jeopardize national security.
Tom Clancy, anyone?
As Greenwald noted, the group cited Russia, for obvious exploitative reasons, and argued that centralized censorship is not only crucial to protecting national security but also in advancing U.S. foreign policy.
The letter’s signatories, in Greenwald’s words, “repeatedly [invoked] the grave threat allegedly posed to the U.S. by Russia as illustrated by the invasion of Ukraine, and it repeatedly points to the dangers of Putin and the Kremlin to justify the need to preserve Big Tech’s power in its maximalist form. Any attempts to restrict Big Tech’s monopolistic power would therefore undermine the U.S. fight against Moscow.”
The letter reads, in part:
This is a pivotal moment in modern history. There is a battle brewing between authoritarianism and democracy, and the former is using all the tools at its disposal, including a broad disinformation campaign and the threat of cyber-attacks, to bring about a change in the global order. We must confront these global challenges.
U.S. technology platforms have given the world the chance to see the real story of the Russian military’s horrific human rights abuses in Ukraine, including the atrocities committed in Bucha, and the incredible bravery of the Ukrainian people who continue to stand their ground.
[…]
We call on the congressional committees with national security jurisdiction – including the Armed Services Committees, Intelligence Committees, and Homeland Security Committees in both the House and Senate – to conduct a review of any legislation that could hinder America’s key technology companies in the fight against cyber and national security risks emanating from Russia’s and China’s growing digital authoritarianism.
[…]
It is imperative that the United States avoid the pitfalls of its key allies and partners, such as the European Union (EU), whose Digital Markets Act (DMA) passed without any consideration of national security repercussions – despite repeated concerns from the Biden administration, including over potential cybersecurity risks.
Russia, Russia, Russia. China, China, China. In the immortal words of the slimy Democrat operative and later terribly-failed mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel:
You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.
So what about Twitter, Twitter, Twitter and Facebook, Facebook, Facebook, and their respective blatant censorship of conservative content on everything from COVID-19-related facts, to Biden administration lies, to Critical Race Theory and pretend-“systemic racism,” the indoctrination of young children in public schools, and an ever-growing list of the radical left’s drive to change America as we know it?
We conservatives must never forget the left doesn’t give a damn what we say or think, nor do liberals delude themselves into believing they can change our positions or convert us to anything they support or propose — in this case protecting Big Tech’s ability to censor independent conservative content.
Strategically, the elitist left’s objective is, through a myriad of useful idiots — liberal media sock puppets, inept Democrat lawmakers (and addled presidents), et al. — making sure low-information rank-and-file Democrat voters remain on the liberal plantation. And what better way to guard against low-information Democrats straying than to censor conservative thought that contradicts the left’s various narratives?
Moreover, Greenwald — in my not-so-humble opinion the best investigative journalist in the business — noted the hypocritical irony of the group:
While one of their central claims is that Big Tech monopoly power is necessary to combat (i.e., censor) “foreign disinformation,” several of these officials are themselves leading disinformation agents: many were the same former intelligence officials who signed the now-infamous-and-debunked pre-election letter fraudulently claiming that the authentic Hunter Biden emails had the “hallmarks” of Russia disinformation (former Obama Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former Obama CIA Director Michael Morrell, former Obama CIA/Pentagon chief Leon Panetta).
Others who signed this new letter have strong financial ties to the Big Tech corporations whose power they are defending in the name of national security (Morrell, Panetta, former Bush National Security Adviser Fran Townsend).
The bottom line:
The battle will rage on. As Glenn Greenwald observed, “When the U.S. security state announces that Big Tech’s centralized censorship power must be preserved, we should ask what this reveals about whom this regime serves.” We should not only ask; we must also act.
And for God’s sake and that of freedom of speech in America, if you allow Twitter or Facebook — or CNN host Don Lemon or Fox News host Sean Hannity, for that matter — to interpret or control the “news” you read, stop it. No, I mean. Stop it.
Related on RedState:
White House Makes Demand of Big Tech Platforms to Address COVID-19 ‘Misinformation’
Twitter’s New CEO, Parag Agrawal, Is Already Being Exposed as Someone Who May Make Twitter Far Worse
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