Entitled, "Fanning the Flames: Disinformation and Extremism in the Media," the hearing focused on the "problem" of some news stations like Fox News and Newsmax relying "on conspiracy theories and misleading or patently false information" in their reporting.
Fox, Newsmax, and OANN (One America News Network) are the three news outlets that Democrats have chosen to place in their crosshairs for elimination from the airwaves due to their questionable "devotion to journalistic integrity."
"The prolonged severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and the attack on our Capitol on January 6 have driven home a frightening reality," said Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-Penn.) in a statement.
"We look forward to hearing from media experts about what is being done and what more can be done to address this growing problem moving forward."
In addition to trying to police what gets posted on social media, these congressional Democrats are aiming to bully cable and satellite providers into removing all "offensive" news outlets from their lineups.
Even though the First Amendment explicitly prohibits the government from interfering with the media, this is exactly what some members of Congress are spending their time doing.
"Since when is it the role of the U.S. Government to arbitrate and enforce precepts of 'journalistic integrity?'" asks Glenn Greenwald, one of the co-founders of The Intercept.
"Unless you believe in the right of the government to regulate and control what the press says ... how can anyone be comfortable with members of Congress arrogating unto themselves the power to dictate what media outlets are permitted to report and control how they discuss and analyze the news of the day?"
Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.) both sent letters to the top media providers in the country grilling them on their protocols for approving which news stations to air or stream.
Comcast, AT&T, Spectrum, Dish, Verizon, Cox and Altice all received letters, as did streaming providers Roku, Amazon, Apple, Google and Hulu. All of these providers are in the crosshairs for continuing to include Fox, Newsmax, and OANN in their lineups.
The letters are filled with buzzwords like "morals" and "ethics," the implication being that only left-leaning fake news outlets should be aired because they embrace these concepts. Conservative media, on the other hand, should be forbidden.
Specifically, those networks that refuse to bash President Donald Trump as an unprecedented threat to "democracy" need to be axed, say Democrats, because they are causing "division" that is preventing America from "healing."
"Other than the indictment of Julian Assange – which most Washington Democrats cheered – what did the Trump administration do in the way of attacking press freedoms that remotely compares to Democrats abusing their majoritarian power to force the removal of conservative cable outlets from the airwaves, just days after doing the same with dissident voices online?" asks Greenwald.
The answer, of course, is that Trump attacked the "freedoms" of the elitist criminals that are used to doing whatever they want without consequence. Trump shined a light on some of their crimes and because of this he became a forever enemy of the deep state and its media lapdogs.
"…as much as I loathe so much of what those outlets do," Greenwald concludes, "it is not the role of the government to regulate let alone silence them."
You can find more stories like this one at Censorship.news.
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