Biden’s campaign spokeswoman’s recent appearance on a MSMBC segment has raised conservative eyebrows. Her controversial remarks suggesting the need for more online censorship to ‘protect’ Joe Biden ahead of the 2024 elections have drawn conservative ire, fueling the debate against free speech suppression.
The incident that led to this uproar was a video clip that went viral, showing Biden appearing disoriented during the G7 meetings in Italy. It shows him walking away from other G7 leaders before being redirected by the Italian Prime Minister. Biden supporters claim the clip is taken out of context. But a significant question arises here. How is showing the president in an unfiltered moment ‘disinformation’?
Spokeswoman Adrienne Elrod’s justification centered on the narrative that Biden was representing America patriotically at the G7. She completely sidestepped his obvious disorientation, choosing instead to paint an unfaltering image of him.
Elrod’s call for a bigger clampdown on free speech online was quite concerning. She anticipates more such incidents as the 2024 campaign gears up and called for a concerted effort against what she termed ‘disinformation’. Her assertion that this strategy is a ‘dirty tactic’ by Republicans falls flat when you consider that the clips of Biden are genuine and unedited.
Elrod didn’t stop at calling for tighter online speech control. She also wants Big Tech, and the media to fall in line with this censorship push. This escalates the concerns surrounding free speech suppression, further aggravated by allegations in the Murthy v. Missouri lawsuit of the Biden administration colluding with social media to stifle free speech.
It’s particularly worrisome that the Biden campaign is seeking Big Tech’s help to defend Biden. This comes even as research from MRC reveals that Big Tech censored criticism of Biden 646 times between March 2020 and March 2022. With such damning statistics and the impending Supreme Court ruling on the lawsuit, the debate around free speech online is heating up.
Elrod’s appearance on MSMBC does nothing to alleviate fears of further suppression of conservative voices online. It’s simple here, folks: authentic, unaltered clips of a public figure are not disinformation. It’s high time Big Tech is held accountable, so that free speech is safeguarded, and genuine dialogue and debate can flourish. The future of American democracy depends on it.
