The four American internet monopolies (Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon) have colluded to silence the President of the United States and his tens of millions of followers by terminating his accounts this week. No matter how much one can disagree with President Trump, silencing him and his supporters should be terribly concerning to everyone who understands the value of free speech. United States Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis wrote 98 years ago: “If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence.”
Freedom of speech is the most important part of the United States Constitution’s Bill of Rights. The recent erosion of this freedom by technology companies in collaboration with some powerful American politicians is a huge setback for the cause of liberty around the world. The United States has been the beacon of freedom for the entire world. Not any more. While Germany, Mexico, France, Australia, Poland, and other countries have denounced the brazen censorship against the U.S. President, the American Congress has not taken a stand so far. In fact, shockingly, some members of the U.S. Congress have expressed support for the censorship. Former First Lady Michel Obama was also urging Twitter to censor the President. Prominent journalists at CNN and other major American media companies are cheer-leading the ill-considered action of the internet monopolies. They should stop to think that tomorrow they could be the target of censorship.
