MRC’s New Social Media Report: Conservative ‘Voices Are Being Silenced’

mrctvstaff | April 16, 2018
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The Media Research Center (MRC) released an extensive report Monday documenting the censorship of conservative voices by Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google. The release of this report follows Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s congressional testimony last week where he was questioned about the growing concern that Facebook engages in political bias and censorship.

CENSORED! How Online Media Companies Are Suppressing Conservative Speech details the overwhelming liberal bias within these tech giants and how it influences the way they flag and remove content, rank search results, curate trending news, and select outside fact-checkers to combat “fake news.” Here are some of the key findings of the report:

 

  • Twitter Leads in Censorship: Project Veritas caught Twitter staffers bragging about censoring conservatives through deceptive techniques like “shadow banning.” In 2016, Twitter was exposed for attempting to manipulate election-related tweets by limiting use of hashtags “#PodestaEmails” and “#DNCLeak.”
  • Facebook’s Trending Feed Hides Conservative Topics: A 2016 Gizmodo story detailed claims by former employees that Facebook’s news curators hid conservative content from the “trending” section.   
  • Tech Firms Rely on Groups That Hate Conservatives: Top tech firms like Google, YouTube and Twitter partner with leftist groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center attempting to censor conservatives.
  • YouTube Removes Conservative Content: YouTube moderators have shut down entire conservative channels and removed videos that promote ring-wing political views, often without any warning.
  • Liberal Twitter Advisers Outnumber Conservatives 12-to-1: Twelve of the 25 U.S. members of Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council – which helps guide its policies – are liberal, while only one is conservative.

Media Research Center President Brent Bozell issued the following statement today concerning the MRC’s findings:

“Voices are being silenced, opinions are being censored and conservative media are being suppressed. These tech companies claim they provide platforms to connect people and share ideas. However, when the only ideas permitted are from one side, any prospect of intellectual discourse dies. If these platforms merely serve as an echo chamber of liberal talking points, everyone loses. Our country is divided and limiting free speech only makes matters worse.

“Facebook, Twitter and the rest of the social media giants must allow political expression from both conservative and liberal voices. Just last week, Mark Zuckerberg told Congress that he is working to ensure Facebook is “a platform for all ideas.” This report is evidence that what little effort they have made is not nearly enough. Facebook, Twitter, Google and YouTube must make real, concrete changes to guarantee conservative voices receive a fair shake. We cannot allow our thoughts and ideas to be barred from the global public conversation.”

For more information on this report, visit stopcensoringconservatives.com

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