SAN DIEGO — Times are certainly tumultuous right now. After weeks of voter fraud allegations that culminated in a protest storming the Capitol, Joe Biden was officially certified as the next president via the congressional electoral process. Despite President Trump’s messages to the protesters to go home peacefully, Facebook and Twitter have blocked his account [1]. Additionally, YouTube is set to suspend channels that promote voter fraud claims [2].
A few months ago, doctors who disagreed with the mainstream medical opinion on COVID were banned on social media [3]. The tech giants who removed the content claimed they were protecting people by removing what they called “dangerous misinformation.” While it is important to protect the population, the question is at what cost. A competent citizenry should be able to think critically for themselves. When information is censored, there is the potential for controlling the masses.
Take for instance the mainstream media’s censorship of the Hunter Biden scandal. Not long after the story went live, it was removed and suppressed by various media outlets. When it comes to politics and elections, control of information is very important. In fact, one in six Biden voters said they would have not voted for Biden had they known the full story [4].
“Each time Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king took a knife and cut off that section of the [prophet Jeremiah’s] scroll. He then threw it into the fire, section by section, until the whole scroll was burned up” (from Jeremiah 36).
Whether one believes the 2020 presidential election was legitimate or not, there is no doubt that the mainstream media has painted a very negative picture of Trump. For the average person who gets their news from mainstream media, they votes were likely influenced. Most people have never met or interacted with political candidates, especially presidential ones. Short of watching press briefings or attending rallies, most people form their opinions on candidates from the news. While there are people who voted for Biden because they truly support him, there are likely others who voted for Biden just because of all the bad press Trump got. As Trump bemoaned at a rally, reporters badger him with malicious questions while they give Biden softball questions. An example of this is when, say, a reporter asks Trump to condemn white supremacy while asking Biden what his favorite flavor of ice cream is.
“A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold” (from Proverbs 22).
I’m personally on the fence. I’d be naive to think there was zero voter fraud in the 2020 election since voter fraud has happened before. The White House even has documented cases of [discovered] voter fraud throughout American history [5]. The question is to what degree the voter fraud was. Perhaps it wasn’t significant enough to make a difference; perhaps it was significant enough to make a difference. The world may never know. I feel like King Solomon who stood before the two women who made conflicting claims about whose child was alive and whose was dead.
“‘No,’ said the other woman, ‘the living one is my son and the dead one is your son.’ But the first woman insisted, ‘No, the dead one is yours and the living one is mine.’ So they argued before the king” (from 1 Kings 3).
What has me the most skeptical is the mainstream media. Since it has been so pro-Biden and anti-Trump, how am I to trust that there really is no evidence of election fraud? If the media had been truly objective throughout the presidential campaigns instead of grossly favoring one candidate over the other, I would have more faith in their headlines bemoaning the “false” claims of election fraud.
Furthermore, I would be more persuaded to believe the media if they reported a small yet insignificant amount of voter fraud occurred instead of sweeping all claims of voter fraud under the rug via their politically biased “fact checkers.” Given the censorship that I’ve seen so far, why should I believe them? Whatever the truth, I do believe G-d has a plan for the next president.
“Daniel praised the G-d of heaven. He said, ‘Praise the name of G-d forever and ever, for He has all wisdom and power. He controls the course of world events; He removes kings and sets up other kings. He reveals deep and mysterious things and knows what lies hidden in darkness, though He is surrounded by light’” (from Daniel 2).
Free speech does have its limits and consequences. Someone obviously can’t yell “fire!” in the absence of fire, without consequence. Also, someone who berates another person can find himself or herself with a restraining order. But what of news articles and social media posts? Where does one draw the line on ideas there? Regardless of how one views the coronavirus restrictions in America, the fact is that the virus originated in China. Dr. Anthony Fauci himself placed blame on the Chinese government for not being more transparent on the virus at its inception [6]. This lack of transparency likely stemmed from censorship within China—the Chinese government imprisoned a journalist who tried reporting on the virus early on in the pandemic [7]. Also, let’s not forget the Chinese billionaire who was sent to prison for eighteen years shortly after criticizing the Chinese government [8]. While reports say the billionaire was sent to prison for “corruption” charges, somehow China’s history of jailing dissidents casts doubt on that narrative.
Just like I don’t trust China’s reports on why it imprisons people, I don’t trust the mainstream media’s reports on the election. I don’t know the future and may never know what really happened with the 2020 election. That being said, I can only wish the next president well and hope for the best. If there is one thing 2020 has taught me, it is that life is truly unpredictable.
“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring” (Proverbs 27:1).
References
1. Perrigo, Billy. “Facebook and Twitter Finally Locked Donald Trump’s Accounts. Will They Ban Him Permanently?” Time. 7 Jan 2021. https://time.com/5927398/facebook-twitter-trump-suspension-capitol/
2. Elias, Jennifer. “YouTube says it will move more quickly to suspend channels posting videos claiming widespread voter fraud”. CNBC. 7 Jan 2021. www.cnbc.com/2021/01/07/youtube-says-it-will-suspend-channels-claiming-widespread-voter-fraud.html
3. Passantino, Jon and Darcy, Oliver. “Social media giants remove viral video with false coronavirus claims that Trump retweeted”. CNN. www.cnn.com/2020/07/28/tech/facebook-youtube-coronavirus/index.html
4. Cooper, Clint. “Cooper: One in six Biden voters would have changed their minds if they had known the full story.” Times Free Press. 26 Nov 2020. www.timesfreepress.com/news/opinion/freepress/story/2020/nov/26/cooper-biden-voters/536784/
5. “A Sampling of Election Fraud Cases from Across the Country”. The Heritage Foundation. 7 Jan 2021. www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/docs/pacei-voterfraudcases.pdf
6. O’Reilly, Eileen Drage. “Fauci sees greater China role in COVID-19 spread, one year on” Axios. 7 Jan 2021. www.axios.com/fauci-covid-19-one-year-later-china-role-ef8443f7-4d9c-40b0-8845-b9ce84caf952.html
7. Kuo, Lily. “China sentences citizen journalist to four years in prison for Wuhan lockdown reports” The Washington Post. 28 Dec 2020. www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/china-wuhan-journalist-trial-coronavirus/2020/12/28/01fac40c-48b7-11eb-97b6-4eb9f72ff46b_story.html
8. Jiang, Steven. “Chinese tycoon who criticized Xi Jinping’s handling of coronavirus jailed for 18 years” CNN. 22 Sep 2020. www.cnn.com/2020/09/22/asia/china-ren-zhiqiang-xi-jinping-intl-hnk/index.html
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Teresa Konopka is a freelance writer based in San Diego.
Editor’s Note: The comment section on this article is now closed.
I think many are waking up to the reality of what is going on. Donald Trump has often said and done things that left many of us shaking our heads and even cringing. However, this level of censorship is unprecedented. I only found this article (and other academic articles regarding this topic) because I bypassed google and used yahoo search. Love or hate Trump, we are headed down a dangerous road. Main stream media lost credibility with half the country. Without the gatekeepers, people don’t know how to separate truth from fiction. Without public discourse, those who believe lies will not be given the opportunity to hear opposing evidence. People won’t sway their opinion simply because those censoring them say it’s not true. They may think they are calming public anger down but they are actually lighting a fuse. People who feel their voices are being stifled will turn to other means to have their voices heard. I’m am sincerely afraid for our country right now.
I think your comment summarizes it best. “Love or hate Trump, we are headed down a dangerous road”.
The censorship has been getting worse. The media chooses what to focus on, thereby influencing the public’s opinion about a situation through not only their slanted attention but also the contents of the coverage. It’s only getting worse. The next hype is this vaccination. The media will soon only be reporting from sources who praise this vaccine, not the medical professionals who warn against it. I’m done with all mainstream media, which is how I found your blog.
That’s a good point on vaccinations. While I am not “anti vax”, I do have my reservations about the new covid vaccine. Medical cencorship frightens me, especially when money is involved.
The white supremacist, anti -Semitic, racists who’s stormed, looted, attacked and threatened our government do not deserve to live in a free country that their ancestors came to from other countries. They are immigrants just like the rest of us.
Free speech is not inciting to overthrow a government.
Free speech comes with responsibility.
Mr trump is not welcome in the USA. He is akin to hitler
We’re all entitled to our opinions, and you don’t have to like Trump. However, it’s a bit extreme to compare him to Hitler, the originator of the Holocaust. Also, while mostly ignored by the mainstream media, Trump did a lot for Israel, including organizing historic peace deals in the middle east. It’s because of Trump that chabad was able to open its first location in the UAE.
With all due respect, the mainstream media did not need to make Trump look bad. He did that all on his own with every action and tweet. After 60 failed lawsuits how much more proof do you need that there was no widespread fraud? Do you think every republican and Trump appointed judge that threw out the suits was in on it??? And as for social media taking down false and misleading claims, we saw on Wednesday just how dangerous allowing those lies to spread can be. I suggest you start watching local news, read Reuter’s and AP (and San Diego Jewish World of course) which is less biased and strives to uphold the tenets of unbiased Journalism.
We’re all entitled to our opinions. However, I do think there are double standards and hypocrisy in the media. For example, Twitter removed Trump’s account because they thought it was “dangerous” yet allow the supreme leader of Iran Khamenei to keep his account (the same leader who denies the Holocaust and proclaims “death to America”).