What is it with Google? Surely, the creators of the world’s most popular internet search engine are the ultimate opponents of censorship, die-hard defenders of the freedom of speech.
No. And not just no, but hell no. Google frequently, if not customarily, sides with the wrong side in the worldwide struggle for freedom. Why is that?
When the Chinese Communist Party wants to prevent the long-suffering citizens of China from accessing what it considers dangerous information (dangerous to the CCP, that is), they ask Google to filter that information out of their search system. Do the Google Goliaths flip the commies off and tell them to take a hike? No. They comply. Why is that?
Here’s a scary thought: If the CCP can “persuade” Google to censor search results for citizens of China, maybe they can persuade Google to censor search results for citizens of the United States – and for citizens of every country on the face of the earth.
Should the CCP decide what you can and cannot read? Should any self-proclaimed authority make such decisions for you? Are you not an adult capable of deciding for yourself what to read and what not to read, what to believe or disbelieve?
Fortunately, here in Texas, the state legislature recently passed, and Gov. Greg Abbott signed, House Bill 20, which prohibits wrongful censorship on search engines such as Google and social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Unfortunately, that’s not the end of the story, because the wrongful censors are determined to preserve their ability to censor wrongfully.
Last week, two trade associations, NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association, filed suit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, seeking to have HB 20 declared unlawful.
In their suit, the plaintiffs allege that the law “would unconstitutionally require platforms like YouTube and Facebook to disseminate, for example, pro-Nazi speech, terrorist propaganda, foreign government disinformation, and medical misinformation.”
That’s a hot one, because that’s what these platforms do disseminate. What they censor are the honest responses.