Big Tech platforms have censored criticism of President Joe Biden more than 600 times over the past two years, according to a new report.
The Media Research Center (MRC), a Virginia-based American content analysis and media watchdog group, through its CensorTrack database, found that between March 2020 and March 2022, social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram deleted or censored 646 accounts or posts that criticized the president.
Of the more than 600 cases, 140 of the posts censored by Big Tech involved the New York Post’s reports about the president’s son, Hunter Biden, and his allegedly corrupt foreign business dealings.
After the New York Post reported on emails and other material from a laptop believed to be owned by Biden’s son, Twitter blocked the circulation of the story while other news outlets cast doubt on the veracity of the developments.
The watchdog’s report also found that 232 posts that mentioned Biden’s behavior with women and children were censored.
In one example, a Facebook post that claimed to show images of Biden kissing his adult granddaughter on the lips during a campaign stop in Iowa in February 2020 captioned, “Find someone who kisses you the way Joe Biden kisses his granddaughter,” was reportedly deleted for violating the platform’s community standards on “nudity or sexual activity.”
In another case, news outlet Breaking 911 on Instagram quoted the president talking about COVID-19 vaccines, saying, “Freedom! … I have the freedom to kill you with my COVID. No, I mean, come on! Freedom?!”
That post was reportedly moved for promoting “violence and incitement.”
“MRC Free Speech America tallied 646 cases in its CensorTrack database of pro-Biden censorship. … The tally included cases from Biden’s presidential candidacy to the present day,” MRC said. “The worst cases of censorship involved platforms targeting anyone who dared to speak about any subject related to the New York Post bombshell Hunter Biden story.”
“The Post investigated Hunter Biden and the Biden family’s allegedly corrupt foreign business dealings. Big Tech’s cancellation of that story helped shift the 2020 election in Biden’s favor,” it added.
The Epoch Times has contacted Facebook and Twitter for comment.
It comes as Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Monday clinched a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion cash. Musk, who calls himself a free speech absolutist, has criticized Twitter’s moderation.
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk said in a statement.
Reuters contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times