Conservatives fear censorship of Russians could be turned against them – Washington Examiner

The West's effort to curb pro-Russian websites and media outlets in reaction to Russias invasion of Ukraine is driven by lopsided business interests that could eventually censor conservatives, critics say.

Major social media companies, including YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter, have moved to reduce Russian propaganda and disinformation on their platforms by aggressively banning or restricting content from Russian state media outlets such as RT, Sputnik, and others.

Conservatives say the social media giants' approach to censoring Russian content is hypocritical and could be aimed at Americans in the near future.

Were seeing Russia being globally deplatformed across the board, and so its impossible not to look at that and think it wont happen to others in America and elsewhere, said Dan Gainor, vice president at the Media Research Center, a conservative media watchdog that tracks censorship on Big Tech platforms.

A group of people, the global mob, have decided to target Russia, but theyre fine with genocides in China. How is that acceptable? There are no rules, and the few that exist keep changing, Gainor said.

Gainor added that there was no consistency or fairness to Russia being censored now when it has invaded other regions in the past without similar consequences. He noted that other countries have also taken violent actions without facing any clampdowns.

Russias attack on Ukraine is one of the first major full-scale military invasions of another country in the age of social media, where online platforms are used by billions and where a separate war is waged online by governments trying to shape alternative narratives.

For example, two anti-Ukrainian disinformation operations that were taken down by Facebook last week were tied to Ukraine Today, a Russian propaganda news outfit created to make Ukraine look like a failed state by using fake Facebook profiles. Russian state media last week also falsely reported a Ukrainian civilian genocide that officials believe was a way to justify the Russian invasion.

The social media giants are aligned in trying to curb Russian disinformation regarding what is happening in Ukraine due to pressure placed on them by users and government officials around the world.

Some of the platforms have even restricted access to Russian government accounts altogether.

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Republicans in Congress are wary of the Russian censorship effort by social media platforms because their decisions appear to be driven by government pressure.

In a very limited way, the tech companies should squash Russian disinformation, but theyre now public utilities that are essentially extended realms of the government, which gives me pause, said Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, one of the most conservative Republicans in Congress.

I have a dubious, skeptical eye on what the tech companies have chosen to do, which is part of why we need to revisit the laws around tech legal shields, said Biggs, who is also one of former President Donald Trumps top supporters.

Biggs added that he wished there would be a similar reaction and attention from tech companies regarding violent activities in China and Africa.

Libertarians say the targeted social media censorship of Russia versus other countries is driven by the fact that there is less money to be lost by cutting off Russians than those in other countries, namely China.

The censorship decisions are mostly a business decision. Theyre responding to what consumers want or not and trying to hit their bottom line, said Ari Cohn, free speech counsel at TechFreedom, a libertarian-leaning technology think tank.

Personally, I feel a certain level of discomfort that were all collectively saying we dont want certain content from one place, Cohn said.

Cohn added that the Russian censorship efforts by social media platforms are not indicative of significant changes with regard to online content moderation because the Ukraine invasion is a unique event.

Tech industry insiders say that if conservatives or others disagree with how major social media platforms are making content moderation decisions, they can jump to other platforms instead.

I can understand and relate to conservative frustrations with censorship, but we want private businesses to be their own arbiters of what content is appropriate or not, said Carl Szabo, vice president at NetChoice, a tech trade group that represents companies such as Facebook and Google.

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The marketplace is providing the solutions we want in terms of alternative platforms like Truth Social and others," Szabo said. "If youre not getting a square deal with one platform, you can always go to another thanks to competition."

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Conservatives fear censorship of Russians could be turned against them - Washington Examiner