London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Sep 30, 2025

US Media Watchdog Grades Big Tech Average 'F' Over Suppression of Free Speech

US Media Watchdog Grades Big Tech Average 'F' Over Suppression of Free Speech

In recent years, US watchdogs have noted an increase in the incidence of censorship by the tech giants of Silicon Valley against their users in the field of free speech regarding political issues and, in particular, information about the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the third quarter of 2021, Big Tech censorship became even more significant, the US Media Research Center's NewsBusters reported on Tuesday, giving the companies controlling major social media a median "F" grade for their policies.

According to the report, the censorship was particularly concerning because the platforms "didn’t have much farther to fall from their pathetic second quarter grades." On Google, Twitter, and Facebook, online freedom has continued to dwindle. And this quarter saw massive censorship of conservative information once again.

This comes amid numerous reports and accusations toward the Big Tech companies of altering their algorithms and containing the spread of the information which contradicted the mainstream media narrative.

Silicon Valley's Failing Grades


The watchdog organization examines in detail the main events and measures taken on the basis of which the companies were assessed in their research.

US Media Research Center's Big Tech Report Card of Quarter 3, 2021


The watchdog recalled that in his new book, Zach Vorhies, a former Google senior software engineer, claimed that Google changed its news algorithm to target former President Donald Trump.

Also during this quarter, The Wall Street Journal began its "Facebook Files" research, which produced stories based on Facebook's internal documents that were damaging to the site. The initiative began with the revelation that Facebook has a "VIP list" of people whose content is not monitored as rigorously as that of other users.

In addition, according to Twitter's most recent transparency report, released in July, the company erased roughly 4 million tweets in just six months last year.

Between September 2020 and August 2021, Twitter took action against over 11 million accounts for COVID-19-related content, according to the company. It also attempted to keep a Project Veritas, blocked on the platform, video of Johnson & Johnson employees making negative remarks about the company's COVID-19 vaccine from being shared, according to CensorTrack.org.

Moreover, this quarter, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that his business had purged more than 20 million COVID-19-related posts. YouTube has banned at least 1 million videos for so-called "dangerous information" related to COVID-19, reportedly including one of Sen. Rand Paul talking about masks.

"Since February of 2020 we’ve removed over 1M videos related to dangerous coronavirus information, like false cures or claims of a hoax," the company said in a blog post in August.


According to the report, remarkably, Amazon's grades slightly increased. The platform was the only one that improved its grades this quarter, in particular, because it has reportedly refused to budge in the face of pressure from both its employees and left-leaning politicians to delete books that addressed transgender problems. According to reports, the platform also reversed a decision to reject ads for a critical book about Black Lives Matter.

TikTok made its first appearance on the list this quarter, earning a D in Online Freedom. In this quarter's report card, TikTok took the place of Apple. TikTok has topped 1 billion monthly active users and is censoring an increasing amount of content.

The watchdog noted that in general, the intensified censorship garnered favorable coverage on the primetime news broadcasts. On network evening news, pro-censorship stories and mentions outnumbered those advocating free speech 12-to-0. Much of the focus was on network support for President Joe Biden's campaign to limit COVID-19 material.

According to the study, about 20% of network evening news broadcast stories about Big Tech censorship researched for the report were neutral. None of the pieces allegedly advocated for free speech, based on analysis of news coverage on ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news.

Alternative Media Still Too Insignificant to Evaluate


Conservatives across the US criticized Big Tech platforms for "censorship and suppression" of free expression online, which prompted their exodus to create their own platforms.

Parler, Rumble, Gab, GETTR, FreeTalk, and CloutHub are among the alternative platforms that have risen to the challenge, with some professing to uphold free speech values. Big Tech has blocked and attempted to shut down at least one of the new alternative platforms, even after some of the more well-known firms, such as Parler and Gab, began to thrive.

Notably, in January, following the January 6 Capitol mayhem, Amazon Web Services, a server and hosting provider, stopped procuring its services to the Parler app, which was accused of being the primary platform used by Trump supporters who broke into the Capitol to coordinate their actions. The app was pulled from Google Play and Apple's App Store, two of the most popular online marketplaces.

However, later in the year, the app was reinstated in its rights on all platforms and is still available to download.

The watchdog noted that because these alternative platforms are so new, there is not much data about how they manage content. On July 1, Trump adviser Jason Miller announced the start of GETTR.

Moreover, both Telegram and Rumble are becoming more and more popular places to post controversial content in order to avoid being blocked, as well as to report about censorship on other platforms.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
Explosive Email Shows Sarah Ferguson Begged Forgiveness from Jeffrey Epstein After Taking His Money
×