Ben Shapiro, of the Daily Wire, appeared before Congress on Wednesday to discuss collusion among Democrats, mainstream media, and the Global Alliance for Responsible Media to silence internet opinions that do not agree with them. The information he provided came with receipts. Musk doesn’t take it lightly. Elon Musk’s X was one of the websites that were silenced. He is now preparing for war.
Shapiro noted during his testimony that much of the focus is on two fronts. First, right-leaning sites are censored and silenced so their information is not seen by the general public. They are often labeled as “misinformation”, “disinformation”, or, as Shapiro’s favorite, “insensitive, irresponsible, and harmful” treatment of “debated social issues”.
There were also the Democrats’ attempts to force social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to remove posts or stories that could undermine the Democrat Party narrative. The Democrats were determined to punish anyone who challenged their narrative or upset it. They also threatened that social media sites could be punished.
Dianne Feinstein, a Senator, told attorneys at Facebook, Google, and Twitter in 2017: “You created these platforms…and they are now being misused.” You have to take action, or we will.
These threats are met with a reaction by social media companies. In response, they have adopted the standards of left-wing “informational security” groups such as the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM). GARM is alleged to set “brand safety” guidelines – objective standards that advertisers and platforms are supposed to use in determining what content should be considered “safe” for advertisement. GARM is a cartel in reality. GARM’s members are responsible for almost $1 trillion in ad expenditures in the United States, or 90%. It is nearly impossible to operate an ad business if you don’t get ad dollars coming from GARM. If you don’t follow their preferred political narratives, such as those of Kara Swisher or Dianne Feinstein, your business will suffer.
Shapiro said that Daily Wire was a website that had experienced this personally since his site “saw a 1,000% increase in content enforcements within two years” after Feinstein’s threat. He brought up Jen Psaki’s pressure on Spotify to act after Joe Rogan told the public that he was taking Ivermectin as a COVID treatment.
GARM and Musk colluded, as the House Judiciary GOPX account noted, to reduce Twitter’s revenues the moment Musk purchased Twitter.
GARM surveyed its members about @elonmusk‘s acquisition of Twitter. GARM shared this info with its members in the context of a boycott.
The survey results would give advertisers the confidence to pull ad campaigns w/o losing out to competitors.
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) July 10, 2024
Musk announced today that, after all the new information, he had no other choice than to file lawsuits.
He posted: “Having seen the evidence unearthed by Congress today, X is forced to file a lawsuit against the perpetrators of the advertising boycott racket and their collaborators,” he wrote. “Hopefully some states will look into criminal prosecution.”
Having seen the evidence unearthed today by Congress, 𝕏 has no choice but to file suit against the perpetrators and collaborators in the advertising boycott racket.
Hopefully, some states will consider criminal prosecution. https://t.co/5W4yf1wxVO
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 11, 2024
One issue is a biggie.
On July 1, X announced its partnership with GARM. X’s Safety account stated that it was “committed” to the safety and security of its global town square, as well as “proud to be a part of the community!”
We’re excited to announce that X has reinstated our relationship with the @wfamarketers Global Alliance for Responsible Media. As of today, X is included as a member of #GARM here: https://t.co/vZ3imzeXda
X is committed to the safety of our global town square and proud to be…
— Safety (@Safety) July 1, 2024
What will happen to this relationship if Musk files lawsuits against those who harmed X by provoking boycotts and assisting them? It is still unknown what these lawsuits will be like or who they will be against.
Certainty is a given. GARM must be addressed, and politicians should be limited in their ability to pressure private companies to follow their orders. Shapiro mentioned in his opening remarks that the Daily Wire had already filed a suit against the State Department over its alleged complicity in GARM. Shapiro stated this in his opening statement:
The First Amendment is not intended to allow elected officials to circumvent the law. The First Amendment was directed to Congress. It was directed at you. When you pressurize private companies to censor expression, you are abdicating your fundamental duty. Some in this room are doing exactly that. The non-legacy media has felt the effects. It must stop in the name of the Constitution and, yes, even the name of democracy.
