Conservative Leaders Call on Feds to Cease Collusion with Social Media Platforms

Over 40 conservative leaders have signed on to an open letter led by Media Research Center President L. Brent Bozell in calling on the federal government to cease its collusion with Big Tech.

The open letter was first published as a Fox News exclusive by Fox News Media Reporter Brian Flood:

“The Biden administration is ripping the U.S. Constitution to shreds. Its assault on America’s freedom of speech is terrifying. It is the hallmark of dictatorships.

“As a result of the incendiary and dangerous announcements made by the Biden White House last week to censor free speech with the cooperation of social media, we, the undersigned, demand  Big Tech firms immediately and publicly announce that they will not comply with calls from the federal government to censor dissenting viewpoints. Not on COVID-19 and not on any other topic. Furthermore we call on those companies to resist further demands for such outrageous censorship of dissenting voices.

“The Biden administration is guilty of violating the most basic fundamental principles of a free and open society. President Joe Biden shockingly claimed Facebook is ‘killing people’ because it doesn’t completely censor its site in ways the administration approves. Though he later backed off this claim a bit, multiple members of the administration are moving to quash free speech on social media following that autocratic rationale.

“White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced that the administration is ‘flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation.’ And on Thursday, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy declared that ‘health misinformation is a serious threat to public health.’ Psaki added to that with the fact that the Surgeon General’s Office is ‘flagging posts for Facebook that spread disinformation.’

“Those who comply and do not speak out are guilty of being complicit in a creepy and repugnant form of Orwellian “thoughtcrime.” We are fast approaching the nightmarish reality of 1984 or worse.

“Therefore, we further demand the White House, the federal government and private entities be fully transparent about all government actions to restrict speech.

“It is also the responsibility of Congress to limit the federal government’s attempt to work with, bully or intimidate private entities to control free speech the state deems dangerous. Indeed, our First Amendment was written to protect all speech, not just what the Biden administration deems safe and socially acceptable.

“If the federal government does not immediately cease and desist from its actions to coerce private companies to quash free speech in the United States, no other conclusion can be drawn, except that the federal government is openly opposed to citizens exercising their First Amendment rights. We will do everything legally in our power to resist that egregious overreach.”

L. Brent Bozell
Founder and President
Media Research Center

Jim Lakely
Vice President & Director of Communications
The Heartland Institute

Gov. Scott Walker
President
Young America’s Foundation

Morton Blackwell
President
Leadership Institute

David N. Bossie
President
Citizens United

Sandy Rios
Director of Governmental Affairs
AFA

Kelly Shackelford, Esq.
President, CEO & Chief Counsel
First Liberty Institute

C. Preston Noell III
President
Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.

Joseph Chalfant
President
Lone Conservative

Terry Schilling
President
American Principles Project

Craig Shirley
Reagan Biographer and Presidential Historian

Kevin D. Freeman
Founder
NSIC Institute

Mark Fitzgibbons
President of Corporate Affairs
American Target Advertising

The Hon. J. Kenneth Blackwell
Chairman
Constitutional Congress, Inc.

Eunie Smith
President Emeritus
Eagle Forum

Rod D. Martin
Founder & CEO
The Martin Organization, Inc.

Christina Murphy Lusk
President
The Martin Foundation

Ted Baehr, Th.D., HHD, J.D.
Movieguide(r)
Producer’s Guild of America (PGA) Member

Steven Ertelt, Editor
LifeNews.com

Floyd Brown
Founder
Western Journal

John Hinderaker
President
American Experiment

Christie-Lee McNally
President
Raven Strategies

Anne Schlafly Cori
Chairman
Eagle Forum

Jon Schweppe
Director of Policy and Government Affairs
American Principles Project

George K Rasley Jr.
Managing Editor
ConservativeHQ.com

David Kupelian
Vice President and Managing Editor
WND

Paul J. Gessing
President
Rio Grande Foundation

Tony Perkins
President
Family Research Council

Brian S. Brown
President
International Organization for the Family

Lori Roman
President
American Constitutional Rights Union

Lady Brigitte Gabriel
Founder & Chairman
ACT For America

Becky Gerritson
Executive Director
Eagle Forum of Alabama

Hon. Kenneth “”Ken”” Cuccinelli, II
Former Attorney General of Virginia
Former Acting Deputy Secretary, Department of Homeland Security

Gary Bauer
President
American Values

Saulius “Saul” Anuzis
President
60 Plus Association

Will Chamberlain
Publisher
Human Events

Randy M. Long
Founder
Long Business Advisors, LLC

James L. Martin
Founder/Chairman
60 Plus Association

Ryan Bomberger
Co-founder & Chief Creative Officer
The Radiance Foundation

Elaine Donnelly
Founder and President
Center for Military Readiness

James Allen
SpeechMovement.Org

Joseph Farah
Editor in Chief
WND

First published at MRC and Heartland.org.