Draft:Censorship Industrial Complex

The censorship–industrial complex (CIC) is a concept used to criticize the overreach of federal governments on the speech of its citizens, often online. The term refers to government coercion, often within the United States, of private media companies to push an agenda. Proponents claim that "cancel culture" has spilled over into influencing the U.S. federal government, specifically swaying Democratic lawmakers. CIC is primarily endorsed by right-wing journalists speaking against mainstream media.

Theory

Theorists claim that government have weaponized the tactics used against foreign terrorists to target their own citizens. They've raise concerns over the influence of Big Tech in politics, censorship of opinions online, and a rise of authoritarianism. Through AI, social media, and other technologies, governments spread misinformation for their own gain. The CIC manifests in federal and state coercion of private actors into pushing a desired agenda.

Proponents

American journalist Michael Shellenberger, American political podcaster Matt Taibbi, and English comedian Russell Brand have all spoken about the CIC's threat to Western democracy. Shellenberger and Taibbi worked on the Twitter Files, internal documents highlighting the decision to remove Donald Trump and alleging the platform's bias for liberal content. Shellenberg claims that the CIC is cancel culture on a government scale with the resources to suppress speech and promote authoritarianism. For years, he has reported on the CIC for years.

U.S. Government

House of Representatives

On May 1st, 2024, the Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government of the U.S. House of Representatives posted an Interim Staff Report on CIC. It is entitled "The Censorship-Industrial Complex: How Top Biden White House Officials Coerced Big Tech to Censor Americans, True Information, and Critics of the Biden Administration." Through "a series of public health measures," referring to COVID-19, the report details how the Biden Administration "suppress[ed] free speech and intentionally distort[ed] public debate." The White House coerced companies, including Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon, to change their moderation policies in favor of Biden's criticism.

On June 26th, 2024, the House Committee on Small Businesses hosted the hearing, “Under the Microscope: Examining the Censorship-Industrial Complex and its Impact on American Small Businesses”. It analyzed government-funded tools and technologies censoring alleged disinformation. Chairman Roger Williams said that the hearing "reaffirmed our concerns surrounding the use of taxpayer dollars to fund organizations that pick winners and losers based on what they believe to be true and false."

Supreme Court

In Murthy v. Missouri, plaintiffs, including human rights advocates, academics, and media companies, claimed that defendants, including federal agencies, have censored conservative-leaning speech. Topics of the targeted censorship include the 2020 presidential election, COVID-19 origins, and vaccine efficacy. The plaintiffs argued that the government's cooperation with Big Tech companies to remove content violates the First Amendment. Those opposing the 6-3 dissenting opinion argue that the case represents the CIC successfully infiltrating the American government.