Remember When Democrats Pressured Cable Companies to Ban Fox, OAN, and Newsmax?

Exploring the Democrats' history of pressuring cable companies to censor conservative media.

Conservatives have the right to argue vigorously about the limits of government's power and responsibility to moderate content. 

Liberals gave that right up sometime during the Obama years, when they went to war against Fox News, abused IRS power to destroy conservative nonprofits, and spun up the censorship industrial complex. 

Advertisement

The controversies surrounding the firing of Stephen Colbert and the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel are, for the most part, fake. Both were losing their companies tens of millions of dollars a year, and over several years, their combined losses are nearing a billion dollars. We can't know for sure, but CBS was reportedly losing $50 million/year on Colbert, and Kimmel's ratings were worse. 

But the comments of Brendan Carr, Chairman of the FCC, do make a debate about government interference in broadcast decisions a legitimate topic, and I am as queasy as many conservatives about the implications. I think that we should have a vigorous debate about such issues, even if (and really, though) Carr's comments had nothing to do with Kimmel's suspension as Variety's report indicates. (Ed covered that angle earlier today.)

 But I have a message to my liberal friends: sit this one out. STFU. After years of pushing censorship and lobbying cable companies to drop Fox News, OANN, and Newsmax, you forfeited the right to have an opinion. It is beyond disgusting that liberals are complaining about free speech rights, given that they have been working tirelessly to destroy conservative commentary. My company has been the target of NGO censorship campaigns--funded by the government--that have cost us real money. That has cost ME real money.

Advertisement

I am old enough to recall the Democrats' campaign against Fox News during the Obama administration, which reached its apex when Obama's CIA tapped the phones of James Rosen. During the Trump years, they worked tirelessly to get cable companies to remove content that they disapproved of. 

Under the Biden administration, the Democrats funded an entire complex of NGOs whose sole purpose was censoring information--successfully, I might add--and the Biden Administration tried to create an Orwellian Disinformation Governance Board led by the Mary Poppins of communism. 

Democrats got multiple comics and actors booted off the air, and the government pressured social media companies to ban users by providing lists of accounts that should be removed from the platforms. 

These are not "accusations." They are established facts. 

Advertisement

Social media censored the Hunter Biden laptop story, and The New York Post was banned from Twitter at the behest of the FBI, and it turned out that the man became the proxy president during Biden's last year in office. 

The Biden administration coordinated with the Europeans to have the Digital Services Act used against social media platforms, which allowed users to post "misinformation"--true statements that were determined to be "malinformation."

"Cancel culture" has been a left-wing specialty for years, so spare me your phony concerns about it being used now. 

Advertisement

Conservatives have a right to push back against government interference with speech if and when it happens, but liberals pioneered the practice, and a lot of conservatives wrongly believe that turnabout is fair play. They are not wrong in some sense, and I have zero sympathy for the "victims" on the left. Jimmy Kimmel applauded like a trained seal when it happened to conservatives, after all. 

But we, unlike the Democrats, should be wary of violating constitutional principles because we believe in them. We can boycott, pressure, scream in outrage, but not use government powers to punish the left. It worked with Bud Light, Target, and Cracker Barrel, after all. 

As for Democrats complaining? That is beyond parody. 

STFU. 

  • Editor's Note: The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie about President Trump, his administration, and conservatives.

Help us continue to expose their left-wing bias by reading news you can trust. Join Hot Air VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.


David Strom

132 Blog posts

Comments