Warren Sued For Asking Amazon To Suppress Covid Book In Searches – The Federalist

Chelsea Greene Publishing is suing Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren for allegedly abusing her political authority to push Amazon to censor their book titled, The Truth About COVID-19.The publisher alleges serious First Amendment violations.

On September 7, 2021, Warren sent an official letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy urging him to suppress the bestseller written by Joseph Mercola and Ronnie Cummins in Amazons search results for perpetuating dangerous conspiracies about COVID-19 and false and misleading information about vaccines.

Chelsea Greene responded by filing a lawsuit accusing Warren of violating the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by seeking to stop booksellers from selling and/or promoting their book. The lawsuit cites the Supreme Court case Bantam Books v. Sullivan, which held that government officials violated the First Amendment by sending letters to booksellers warning the sale of certain books was potentially unlawful.

The ruling established that even though private companies have the right to censor speech within their platforms, they cant do it on behalf of a government agent. It is unconstitutional for state officials to pressure a private company to suppress objectionable speech.

According to Warrens letter, a search on Amazons website using the keywords COVID-19 and vaccine would list the book as the first result. Warren concluded the letter by calling Amazon to modify its algorithms so that they no longer do so.

Chelsea Greene Publishing released a statement explaining their allegations against Warren.

The term vaccine misinformation, as Warren uses it, refers to any speech challenging the safety and efficacy of the COVID vaccines, even when that speech consists of factually accurate information or reasonable and protected opinion, the statement said. Plaintiffs allege Warrens letter contained blatant falsehoods and unsubstantiated accusations about the book and that Warrens claims, even if correct, would not alter the books constitutional protectedness.

Author Joseph Mercola accused Warren of violating his First Amendment rights, noting that protecting free speech is central to our democracy.

I believe successful treatments for COVID-19 have been suppressed, and there are real conspiracies that have been revealed that are essential to public well-being, said Mercola.

Margot Baldwin, president of the publisher, pointed out that, historically speaking, suppressing books indicates dangerous government trends..

The government trying to ban books is a very dangerous slippery slope to totalitarianism and cannot be allowed, said Baldwin. Weve been here before in history and we know where it leads: tyranny! First burning books, then banning books, then disappearing books from search results. Its all the same thing.

As a result of Warrens letter, Barnes and Noble, the largest bookseller chain in America, announced it would no longer sell the ebook of The Truth About COVID-19 on its digital platforms, a decision which was reversed a few days later.

Many observations about Covid-19 that were previously considered conspiracy theories by Democrat politicians have since turned out to be correct. For a few examples: after two years of lies, the Centers for Disease Control finally admitted that its Covid death and hospitalizations numbers were being inflated, 75 percent of Covid victims had at least four comorbidities, the vaccine doesnt prevent transmission, and cloth masks were always political theater.

This is not the first time Democratic politicians have colluded with powerful private corporations to shut down speech that poses an inconvenience. Recently, President Joe Biden urged social media companies to deal with the misinformation and disinformation on their platforms. Last year, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki revealed the White House was regularly working with Facebook to flag problematic posts that spread disinformation.

Nathan J. Arnold, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said he doesnt believe that there is any misinformation in the book, but even if there was, it would be irrelevant since it is speech protected by the First Amendment.

I know that the political landscape that were all operating in is terribly partisan, but we dont want unpopular opinions being suppressed by whoevers in power, said Arnold. It really transcends party politics.

Sam Neves is a former leftist and a correspondent for Campus Reform. He is a marketing major at Emerson College. After graduation, Sam plans to attend law school and continue his mission to fight for people who do not have a voice.

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Warren Sued For Asking Amazon To Suppress Covid Book In Searches - The Federalist