It’s not that. It’s that the Trump administration is significantly impacting free speech far more than you are willing to admit. You just don’t want to see it.
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I just get the impression that Western governments/manufacturers have started something that they can’t finish:
Global carmakers are facing a reckoning as US, European and Japanese brands lose ground to Chinese rivals setting the pace not only in electric vehicles, but also in batteries, design and software.**
The BBC visited factory floors in Beijing and Hefei on the sidelines of Auto China 2026 - the world’s largest car show - and found striking levels of automation and software development speed, leaving foreign brands that once dominated the Chinese market struggling to keep up.
“We have no chance against this,” Honda chief executive Toshihiro Mibe told Japanese media after visiting a highly automated factory in Shanghai.
Ford chief executive Jim Farley has also warned that Western carmakers, are “in a fight for our lives” as Chinese rivals expand globally.
Give me an example, I’m a huge free speech advocate and I am no fan of Trump. Like a lot of people, I just see how bad the alternative was and is.
I’m sorry, you honestly can’t think of an example of Trump squashing free speech? Seriously? How fooled are you?
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I’m sorry, enlighten me where individual rights to free speech have been infringed. I think so many people are so wrapped up in blind anger, they believe anything they hear.
I can site numerous examples where the Biden administration sought to suppress individual speech. I’m sure you were super critical then, right?
When did Biden threaten FCC licenses? When did Biden call for the firing of network employees?
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I wish he would stay out of it, on that we agree. But, the FCC licenses do carry with them requirements as to the purpose of the content. I don’t like to see those agencies weaponized but it’s not an infringement of Free Speech. If I recall, those same network employees, along with other hosts from similar networks, we’re gleeful when Barr and Carlson were fired for expressing their own views. Kimmel remains on the air and his temporary suspension was decision made entirely his own network. The late show has been ratings disaster and a giant money suck. Colbert is free to say and do what he wants, to the extent anyone cares to listen.
What did happen under the Biden administration was pressure exerted on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. In particular, posts that criticized vaccine policy, counter research or alternative therapies. Broader that, the state department, under Biden, was sued and ultimately settled a lawsuit by conservative outlets after trying to throttle or fact check online engagement.
This excerpt from the subcommittee finding regarding the Biden Administration
After reviewing tens of thousands of emails and nonpublic documents between the Biden White House and Big Tech, the Committee’s report reveals:
“Big Tech changed their content moderation policies because of the Biden White House”
- The Biden White House’s censorship targeted true information, satire, and other content that did not violate the platforms’ policies
- The Biden White House’s censorship campaign had a chilling effect on other speech
- The White House had leverage because the companies had other policy concerns involving the Biden Administration
- The Biden White House pushed censorship of books, not just social media
The Biden administration went so far as to try and set up a disinformation governance board. It was so roundly criticized that it was shutdown just 3 weeks after appointing it’s czar and part time musical aficionado, Nina Jankowicz.
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JLC has not responded; so I will. Methinks he meant starter.
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The FCC has challenged the licenses of ABC’s owned and operated television stations due to their airing of Jimmy Kimmel, the late night program, and/or The View, a daytime talk show which discusses current affairs. The View, it should be noted, has both liberal and conservative members of the panel, though not in perfect balance.
Schools and professors are self-censoring, or censoring to meet guidelines “for approval” by Trump appointees of what is taught in class. Lawsuits have been launched and grants withdrawn from such institutes as Harvard, Yale, Brown, Columbia, UCLA, Princeton, Cornell, University of Pennsylvania and others rescinding billions of dollars in grants covering research, operating costs, tuition or other already contracted expenses in classic intimidation tactics to bring those institutions “into line” with administration preferences.
The Trump administration has struck nearly 600 titles from libraries at military campuses (including schools for military dependents) which they view as “too liberal” or focused on identity, inclusion, gender ideology, or what they call “un-American” concepts. his includes LBGT content, ack and brown history, and parts of psychology curricula.
The administration has overridden, or attempted to override local officials and historians wiping certain elements of True History off the public register. This includes plaques and histories of enslavement from the National Parks, the President’s House Site in Philadelphia, even the National Mseum of African American History and Culture, not to mention the Smithsonian and other public institutions. Heck, the Pentagon pulled all histories of notable black service people including Jackie Robinson from public display until ordered to reinstitute them by the court.
Multiple professionals have been fired, both from government service and even from private industry because of the chilling effects of government dictat in areas the administration doesn’t like. Courts have required that they be rehired, but only after long and costly legal battles, and not all of them have won as the paper trail for “silent collusion” is thin indeed.
I didn’t “hear” these things. They are well documented in the public record.
If you can’t see these things then there is no hope, and I am pretty sure that … there is no hope.
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These are largely policy decisions regarding terms of employment or under which licenses are granted. Just as the prior administration required diversity training in the military, the current administration can eliminate where it sees fit within the powers of the executive branch.
They are not infringements that fall under 1A. As I said, the FCC has supervision of over the air licenses granted to ABC. Whether we agree in its interpretation, the FCC is responsible for making sure those licenses are being used for what is in the “public good”.
Again, I’m not a fan of the administration weighing in on Kimmel or the others. I think the public largely ignores them and the the shows are going away on their own. It doesn’t any way measure up to the kind of censorship of free speech by the Biden administration. It’s unprecedented in its reach.
Balanced by any measure, would be a complete stretch.
Whether you like or not, members of the military and the content provide at on base criteria is not subject to an absolute test under 1A. The military can and may set restrictions on content, although some justification is typically required under law. Base libraries are often accessed by children that live there. As with school libraries, there is some content that can be restricted as age appropriate. There is also nothing preventing military personnel from buying individually books that may not be allowed in the military library.
You are correct. The Trump administration has sued and pressured these institutions for violations of the civil rights act. It’s odd that you’ve lumped this into a free speech debate, when the very purpose of the suits are to protect ALL STUDENTS ability to express themselves lawfully. At one point, it was so bad at Columbia that Jewish students were having to sequester themselves in protected buildings to avoid physical and verbal threats by other students and activists.
I see them and I wonder if you saw it in 2021-2024.
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No, just don’t want to get into the yes it does no it doesn’t. My trusted mechanic said he has seen it numerous times. For there to be little to no extra wear on the transmission and other parts, they have to be “overbuilt”. And most companies don’t. So I’ll leave it at that.
I worried about all the blatant misinformation being spread about COVID. About the vaccines. About “alternative” ways to deal with the infection. That “masks don’t work” or are about “control”.
But the fact you can’t seem to see that what Trump is doing is an order of magnitude worse than anyone who came before him is the real crime here. Both sides are not the same. And there is no alternative universe out there where what Kamala or Hillary wanted would have been worse than Trump.
Bottom line
• True: The Biden administration actively tried to influence what social media companies allowed about COVID and vaccines, using public criticism, private contacts, and coordination to push for more aggressive removal or downranking of certain posts.
• False/overstated: Claims that it directly censored speech or that courts have clearly ruled its actions unconstitutional are not supported; the Supreme Court dismissed the key case on standing, leaving the central First Amendment question unresolved.
• Legitimate debate: Even if not clearly illegal, the approach raises serious questions about government pressure on private speech platforms and the potential chilling of lawful, good‑faith disagreement.
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Yes, you have a rationalization for everything, and by amazing coincidence each of your answers aligns perfectly with your political preferences.
If you mean the Biden administration asked social media to stop repeating false information, well you win. But the information WAS false.
However in Murthy v Missouri the government did find, well, here:
**The Dissent:** Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch dissented. They argued that the government's actions went well beyond "persuasion" and amounted to unconstitutional coercion, maintaining that the plaintiffs had successfully demonstrated standing because the threat of government retaliation forced the platforms to act.
What amuses me here is that social media are not licensed or controlled in any way by the government. However as we all understand broadcast licenses are. Yet you dismiss the obvious coercion of ABC over “content”, while crying about similar coercion of social media sites over which the government can exercise no licensing” of any kind.
You see the difference? I didn’t think so. As I say, “no hope.”
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He probably also believes the lies the 2020 election was stolen.
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Now he’s a Corporate Democrat who supports crony capitalism and liberal “free speech”, but not of the “woke” kind.
intercst
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I wish you could see how this statement shows how lost you are in ideological capture. Simply on the grounds, noone knows the alternative future and what would have been the outcome with any certainty. I know my own crystal ball is broken
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I think he is a guy that wants to build stuff. I don’t know what a corporate democrat is at this point. I just know the party has the lowest approval rating it’s ever had in its history.
The Biden administration censored or pressured media platforms to take down the following.
- Initial Theories that the Covid started as a leak from a Wuhan Lab
- Humor and Satire criticizing Govt Policy on Covid
- Legitimate data and debate on natural immunity vs vaccine efficacy
- Discussions and criticisms of long term efficacy as well side effects from the MRNA vaccines
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee formally apologizing for the COVID-19 censorship that occurred on its platforms. In the letter, the company admitted that government pressure influenced its actions and stated that past censorship efforts by the administration were “unacceptable and wrong”. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Not only was much of the information censored not wrong, it actually turned out to be correct. Going forward, Google has vowed never to bend political pressure like this ever again that doesn’t violate its own policies and standards.
Probably the most damaging long term is the censorship not of false information but legitimate debate over vaccine risks and efficacy for younger cohorts with no known co-morbidities. So much so, newer research suggests the vaccine may actually risk doing more long term harm than the virus itself. There has been a substantial rise in cardiac related issues in men ages 25 to 45 in the military, where vaccines were mandatory. The Biden information didn’t just try to suppress false information. It attempted to silence almost any comments on line that didn’t echo its position or policy on how to handle Covid and the supposed ways to control it.
Speaking of disinformation, at one point, survey data suggested nearly 1/2 of all democrats thought that almost 1/2 of all individuals that contracted COVID required hospitalization. Fear has a funny way of getting people to look the other way on freedoms.
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I’m not challenging you, but I don’t see how. Start-stop systems (which I hate, by the way) don’t shift the car and they aren’t supposed to operate at all unless the transmission fluid temp is optimal.
The starter motor I could see for sure. They are supposed to be overbuilt, but I could see them being insufficient for the job. But I just don’t understand what the effect on the transmission would be.
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I don’t have a political ideology. I’ve already said several times I’m not a fan of the current President. He hardly lives up to my standard for quality leadership. But, I’m also no fan of what is going on with the alternative. Perhaps, it gives me perspective that those viewing this as a binary can not see.
That is just outright misinformation and you should be censored for it 
Google addressed it in their letter to the DOJ and Zuckerberg in his testimony to congress. The Biden administration, whether you like it or not, pressured these platforms to take down information contrary not to the facts but that questioned policy, emerging data, and efficacy results. It so absurd your belief in this notion that it almost borders on a religious type adherence to party loyalty.
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.sciencexcel.com/articles/Gz3RYpG6uFTWWQ06qxfswrdGkANvlCxoZsA8A9mG.pdf
The link above is to a good read. It’s written by Mitchell Leister of the University of Colorado School of Medicine. It talks about how the Pandemic caused, with the help of government censorship, the almost complete abandonment of the scientific approach and principles. The really good part is the early research on myocarditis that raised serious concerns about side effects. At the time, it was suppressed but then later in 2025 included as part of the official warnings of risks with the vaccine.
Of course, if you really want an education and it is referenced in the article, you can read the twitter files. But, you’ll have to be prepared to abandon your belief that you’re with the good guys.
“The most alarming aspect of the documents, according to Taibbi’s reporting, was the revelation of a vast, sprawling “censorship industrial complex.” Specifically, the files exposed how federal agencies—including the FBI and the State Department—routinely pressured social media platforms to suppress, flag, or throttle the accounts of ordinary American citizens and journalists, often based on subjective categorizations of “misinformation” rather than established crimes.”
It’s totally anecdotal but one of the things I noticed about the Pandemic as how quickly we became like sheep willing to accept any command without question. It’s frightening how compliant the public became so easily.
The other thing I noticed is my liberal friends, and I have many, seemed to be the most fearful. Many of them were willing to suspend some basic individual rights in pursuit of ending it. Some went as far to say that the GOVT should force vaccinations on the entire population. More famously, some like Scott Galloway, who has apologized profusely for it, said we should deny any medical treatment to someone who refused to get vaccinated. I’m not sure what to make of that other than our ideals matter most when there is something to lose. Galloway will always be a coward first and foremost in my mind.
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