Ever since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s become clear that the Democrats are now completely done with free speech as an American institution.
Last July, Biden’s Surgeon General (USSG) Vivek Murthy stood in front of his liberal peers in the White House press room and labeled free speech a severe national “health risk” as he called for a “whole-of-society” effort to combat the “urgent threat to public health” posed by “health misinformation.”
And, of course, the misinformation, disinformation nonsense is curated by the liberal regime and can be altered or updated at any time – always along the lines of political expedience.
In other words, the Surgeon General is on a dedicated crusade to kill free speech in America, and now, the Biden Regime has sent him to kick off the latest initiative to purge dissent.
On Thursday, USSG Murthy illegally demanded that all major US tech companies must provide the federal government with data on Americans who are engaged in peddling what has been deemed ‘misinformation,’ especially surrounding Covid-19 or the stolen 2020 election, according to a new report by the New York Times.
In a formal request sent by the USSG office, Murthy called on US Big Tech platforms to gather data from social networks, search engines, crowdsourced platforms, e-commerce platforms, and instant messaging systems about the prevalence and scale of COVID-19 “misinformation” and turn it over to Biden’s administration no later than May 2nd.
Murthy’s request, which was once again billed as “protecting our nation’s health,” encompasses a wide range of data that includes user info, as well as how many – and which – users were exposed to specific ‘misinformation posts.’ He also asked the tech companies to identify and provide specifics on “major sources of misinformation.”
From the New York Times:
“The notice asks the companies to submit “exactly how many users saw or may have been exposed to instances of Covid-19 misinformation,” as well as aggregate data on demographics that may have been disproportionately exposed to or affected by the misinformation.
The surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, also demanded information from the platforms about the major sources of Covid-19 misinformation, including those that engaged in the sale of unproven Covid-19 products, services, and treatments.
“Technology companies now have the opportunity to be open and transparent with the American people about the misinformation on their platforms,” Dr. Murthy said in an emailed statement. He added: “This is about protecting the nation’s health.”
Companies have until May 2 to submit the data. Denying requests for information does not carry a penalty, but the notice is the first formal request from the Biden administration of the tech companies to submit Covid-19 misinformation data, according to the surgeon general’s office.
Although there is no official penalty for tech companies denying the USSG request, they have every incentive to cooperate and provide the information, despite the questionable legality. The Biden administration can easily penalize them indirectly through lawsuits, regulations, or new legislation.
However, the point may be moot anyway, considering the overwhelming ideological bent among Big Tech companies, which will likely happily provide the data with few, if any, questions asked.