In an amendment that was ultimately struck down, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) proposed prohibiting federal bureaucrats from censoring COVID-related information.
Paul introduced the amendment to Senate bill S.61, the “Combating Cartels on Social Media Act.”
The Kentucky senator announced the move in a press release on his Senate website, writing: “U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) forced a vote during a committee business meeting regarding his amendment to protect free speech and prevent further government censorship on social media and other online outlets.”
The amendment comes after numerous scandals in which the federal government was found to be directly pushing for censorship on social media platforms. Paul cited these incidents in remarks about the amendment.
“Recent unsettling disclosures, including those within the Twitter files, illustrate how the federal government has leveraged taxpayer-funded resources to collude with social media companies and censor disfavored speech on topics from COVID-19 to U.S. elections,” he said.
“The freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment is one of the bedrock principles of our founding, and Congress must defend this right against government censorship,” Paul added. “It is against this backdrop that I call up my amendment which would prohibit federal employees from using their official position to censor speech on social media and other outlets.”
Despite the fact that censorship by the federal government is blatantly unconstitutional, Democrats often celebrated social media censorship of ideas they disagreed with — and even bragged about their interference to encourage the censorship.
In July 2021, then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki explained that the Biden administration was directly involved in censoring information about COVID and the vaccines.
“We are regularly making sure social media platforms are aware of the latest narratives, dangers to public health… The false narrative that remains active out there about COVID-19 vaccines causing infertility… And we want to know that the social media platforms are taking steps to address it…. And that is an example of the kind of information that we are flagging, or facing,” she said.
Psaki and other members of the Biden administration defended these actions by claiming that they were simply offering “suggestions” to Big Tech companies, arguing that there was no coercion involved in their communications with the companies.
The FBI has been exposed for directly reaching out to Twitter to demand censorship of conservatives, even news outlets like Right Side Broadcasting Network (RSBN).
Despite all of this evidence, the Democrat-controlled committee struck down Paul’s amendment. Five Republicans also joined their Democrat colleagues in voting against the amendment, which failed with a vote of 2-13. The GOP senators who voted against it were Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Rick Scott (R-FL) and James Lankford (R-OK) — while Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) joined Paul in voting in favor of the amendment.
Big Tech blowhards are filled with hot air.
You won’t believe the vote count on @RandPaul’s amendment to stop government censorship. pic.twitter.com/jXcGwhUHjg
— Hannah Cox (@HannahDCox) June 16, 2023
