During the legislative policy conference in Austin, Texas, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis told the audience that Florida is finding ways to take action against these tech companies who imposed censorship on Republican Politicians.
DeSantis talked about how these big techs censored Trump, who is the President of the United States, took down his accounts, followed by millions of people, and served as his means to communicate with them.
The governor said, “if they can do that, that means the big tech oligarchy is in some ways, in many ways, more powerful than the government itself.”
Florida House of Reps request divestment of any Florida investments in the Top 5 big tech companies. Good on DeSantis for moving forward; this is exactly what should/needs to happen. Now people need to follow. Shares drop, valuation drops, donations to politicians drops. pic.twitter.com/aHevyEm5QW
— Michael S. Miller (@imichaelsmiller) January 12, 2021
In relation to this, DeSantis also announced at the conference in Texas that his administration was already talking about the effects of these big tech companies on the American people’s daily lives and its corresponding impact when they decided to suspend or ban President Trump from using their platform.
DeSantis said that this move by the tech giants made the issue about censorship “much, much more pressing.”
DeSantis also highlighted how the social media platforms suppressed the stories from The New York Post, including the disturbing articles about Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.
The Florida Governor said, “You have a situation wherein the election I was very disturbed to see credible articles about Hunter Biden actively suppressed by these big tech oligarchs in a way that I think absolutely had an impact on the presidential election.”
DeSantis then added that these moves being made by these Tech giants could be considered as “election interference,” and because of that, it is something that needs to be addressed.
Twitter censors NYPost report on Hunter Biden, curtailing ‘Americans’ access to a free press’https://t.co/s33tYWP27v
— Trish Regan (@trish_regan) October 17, 2020
The governor said that when the social media platforms moved to censor credible stories and reports about Hunter Biden, it bothered him. Before saying that, what was revealed is “really, really chilling.”
DeSantis also added that Twitter’s move to ban Trump, the President of the United States, from using their platform was a big deal. However, what bothered him the most was how these tech companies got rid of Parler, a competitor of Twitter.
After Twitter banned Trump’s account, Parler gained users because people know that Twitter censors conservatives. He then said, “And so what did they do? Not only did Apple drop them. Not only did you have other things, but they also took them off the webserver from Amazon.”
Google banned Parler
Apple removed Parler from their store
Amazon removed Parler from it’s web hosting service
And every Democrat is OK with this because they’re “private companies”
If that’s the case, small business owners: OPEN UP SHOP & NEVER close for the government again
— Ashley StClair 🇺🇸 (@stclairashley) January 10, 2021
DeSantis then made a bold statement saying that these tech companies are “more powerful than the government itself in some ways.”
He said, “the lawyers quit. They couldn’t even do this. This was a coordinated assault on a company that was trying to compete.” He continued and stated, “and so I think about that and say, okay, if they can do that, that means the big tech oligarchy is in some ways, in many ways, more powerful than the government itself.”
DeSantis also added that these big tech companies started acting as judges, juries, and executioners without due process. Due to these powers, they could effectively wipe someone off the map.
Hypocrisy and double standards of the political left are infuriating. But the left controls the flow of information through the media and big tech, so Democrats and journalists won’t be called out in any meaningful, consequential way. @Aaron_Kliegmanhttps://t.co/a0VolP6DrE
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) November 12, 2020
DeSantis concluded on the issue by saying, “And so, we’re going to take action, I think you’re going to see Texas want to take action.” He continued and said, “so, we’re thinking very, very deeply about this. I think it’s probably the most important legislative issue that we’re going to have to get right this year and next year in Florida.”
