Big Tech Censored Dozens of Doctors, More Than 800 Accounts for COVID-19 ‘Misinformation,’ Study Finds

Resource : https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/2022-02-08/merck-and-ridgeback-announce-that-3-1-million-courses-of-molnupiravir-an-investigational-oral-antiviral-covid-19-medicine-have

Big Tech Censored Dozens of Doctors, More Than 800 Accounts for COVID-19 ‘Misinformation,’ Study Finds

Ailan Evans / @AilanHEvans / February 09, 2022

Twitter, Google, Google+, Gmail, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat are among the platforms arrayed on the screen of an Apple iPhone. Many of them have used their largely unregulated power to censor information they don’t approve of as “misinformation.” (Photo: Chesnot/Getty Images)

Major technology companies and social media platforms have removed, suppressed or flagged the accounts of more than 800 prominent individuals and organizations, including medical doctors, for COVID-19 “misinformation,” according to a new study from the Media Research Center.

The study focused on acts of censorship on major social media platforms and online services, including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Ads, and TikTok.

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Instances of censorship included Facebook’s decision to flag the British Medical Journal with a “fact check” and “missing context” label, reducing the visibility of a post, for a study delving into data-integrity issues with a Pfizer vaccine clinical trial.

Facebook also deleted the page of the Great Barrington Declaration, an open letter led by dozens of medical professionals, including Dr. Jay Battacharya, a Stanford epidemiologist, and Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a former employee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which advocated for less restrictive measures to address the dangers of COVID-19.

“Big Tech set up a system where you can’t disagree with ‘the science’ even though that’s the foundation of the scientific method,” Dan Gainor, MRC vice president of Free Speech America, told the Daily Caller National Foundation. “If doctors and academic journals can’t debate publicly, then it’s not science at all. It’s ‘religion.’”

Big Tech also scrubbed podcast host Joe Rogan’s interviews with scientists Dr. Peter McCullough and Dr. Robert Malone, the latter of whom was instrumental in pioneering mRNA technology. Twitter banned Malone from its platform permanently in late December over the virologist’s tweets questioning the efficacy and safety of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“We tallied 32 different doctors who were censored, including mRNA vaccine innovator Dr. Robert Malone,” Gainor said. “Censoring views of credentialed experts doesn’t ensure confidence in vaccines. It undermines faith in government COVID-19 strategies.“

In addition to medical doctors, the study examined instances in which members of Congress were censored by tech platforms.

These included an incident last August in which YouTube suspended Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., for posting a video arguing that “cloth masks” are not effective against the coronavirus, a view later echoed by many prominent medical commentators. Twitter also flagged a tweet from Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., in which he wrote “studies show those with natural immunity from a prior infection are much less likely to contract and spread COVID than those who only have vaccine-induced immunity.”

The study also examined Big Tech censorship of prominent media personalities, such as Rogan, Tucker Carlson, and Dan Bongino.

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Top News Organizations Run Huawei-Sponsored Puff PiecesChuck Ross and Santi Ruiz

October 27, 2021 5:00 am

Some of the country’s most prominent news organizations have partnership deals with telecom giant Huawei, which the U.S. government considers a national security risk because of links to the Chinese government.

Getty Images

The Wall Street Journal, Wired, Reuters, and Politico have all published news-style pieces commissioned by the Chinese telecom giant to advance its interests, according to a Washington Free Beacon review. Since July, Reuters has published two sponsored articles touting Huawei’s investments in the United Kingdom. The Journal has published 14 sponsored articles since last year, while Wired has hosted virtual events sponsored by the tech giant. Politico ran pro-Huawei content last year. The articles disclose that Huawei sponsors the content, though the company’s ties to the Chinese government may not be apparent to readers.

Huawei has come under fire for its cozy relationship with Beijing. Critics of Huawei, whose founder is an avowed member of the Chinese Communist Party, say the company’s links to the Chinese government pose risks to dissenters in China and could help the regime spy on foreign adversaries. The Trump administration put Huawei on an economic blacklist over those concerns, and the Biden administration has maintained the policy. Huawei has spent millions of dollars on advertising and lobbying to beat back the sanctions and to rehabilitate its image. The company has paid Democratic lobbyist Tony Podesta $500,000 since August to lobby the White House, according to lobbying disclosures.

Media companies that partner with Huawei and other Chinese entities have drawn scrutiny in recent years as Beijing has mounted an aggressive foreign propaganda campaign. The Journal, New York Times, and Washington Post all ended partnerships with China Daily last year, citing concerns about working with state-run media outlets. The National Association of Black Journalists last year canceled an online event to discuss misinformation regarding coronavirus after backlash over Huawei’s sponsorship.

Huawei has sponsored events through Wired‘s “Brand Lab,” which offers the magazine’s clients “the chance to connect your brand to the Wired world.” Huawei sponsored a conversation with Brookings Institution fellow Dr. Nicol Turner Lee, whose think tank has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Huawei. That funding from Huawei has bought friendly write-ups of Huawei projects. The Brand Lab also has created friendly, unsigned opinion pieces on behalf of Huawei. In one, Wired argues that although “computer chips make the digital world go round,” the United States risks “decoupling supply chains” and “dramatically impacting the bottom lines of businesses.” The piece blames the United States for pressuring Huawei and makes no reference to national security concerns.

Wired‘s news coverage of Huawei has often included defenses of the company and warnings that an “ill-considered” crackdown “could spell the end of a single, global internet” and could “backfire.”

The Journal has churned out 14 articles since August 2020 as part of the Huawei sponsorship. The articles, which the Journal posts to one of the company’s Twitter accounts, feature headlines like “Why AI Needs More Women,” “Conservation Through Connectivity,” and “Creating a Culture of Trust.” The material offers a positive view of technology companies and 5G technology, with some of the articles portraying Huawei as a force for social good. A sponsored article promoted in August says that Huawei technology can bring an end to so-called digital deserts by “promoting digital inclusion and connecting the disconnected around the world.” The article also quotes Afke Schaart, a former Dutch lawmaker who serves as Huawei’s senior vice president for global government affairs.

Reuters’s content is directed at the United Kingdom, which has banned Huawei’s equipment from being used on its high-speed wireless infrastructure. One article claimed that Huawei’s 5G will drive economic recovery for small- and medium-sized businesses. A Reuters piece published this month touted Huawei’s commitment to the conservation movement. The article quoted a Huawei executive saying that the company’s technology would “help protect the planet” and that Huawei is “committed to supporting conservation projects in many ecosystems, including oceans, rainforests, and mountains.”

A spokesman for the Journal declined to comment for this story. Reuters and Wired did not respond to requests for comment. Huawei also did not respond to emails seeking comment.

Published under: CCP, China, China Daily, Huawei, Politico, Propaganda, Reuters, Wall Street Journal