Which is better: To lobby or to not lobby? That’s no longer a question for pro-censorship Twitter. A number of tech companies including Twitter are trying to promote their policy goals.
Pro-censorship Twitter and Vimeo are among five companies forming the “Open Internet Alliance” to advocate for specific legislation and regulation of the internet.
The Open Internet Alliance (OIA) describes itself as “an informal group of companies that advocates for fair and progressive regulation in Europe and globally.” These companies are Twitter, Vimeo, Automattic, Jodel and Seznam.cz. While the OIA tries to frame itself as taking on the “largest and most powerful companies,” Twitter and Vimeo certainly do not lack in size or influence. Search Engine Journal put Twitter in the top 10 social media sites and platforms for 2021, and Vimeo describes itself as the “world’s leading video software solution,” with 260 million users. Twitter is known for its biases in censorship. It has removed Donald Trump as President. Vimeo also engages in bias censorship by removing an old Christian church and censoring the documentary of MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
Twitter Public Policy announces the creation of OIA. March 22 tweet, saying, “The internet is #MoreThanFour companies.” The Open Internet Alliance’s website states that, with the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, “The Open Internet is at a crossroads in Europe,” and “the EU has an opportunity to create laws that make the internet a safer and healthier place and a more competitive environment for companies of all sizes.” The website adds, “We’re concerned that these laws are shaping up to make the largest and most powerful companies even larger and more powerful.” Yet Twitter was a Big Tech player involved with stealing the 2020 U.S. election. This platform explicitly blocked links to bombshells. New York Post report that detailed emails from then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden for alleged corrupt dealings of the family in Ukraine.
The attempt to increase censorship online is not new. So-called Facebook “whistleblower” Frances HaugenHe turned out to have been a leftist activist and advocated increased censorship. One of the measures supported by OIA, “Net Neutrality,” has also been considered a controversial and freedom-encroaching measure in the past.
Will an “open internet” be one where individuals with many different viewpoints have freedom of speech? Twitter and Vimeo are two examples of this. Who knows? For years, European laws have been more restrictive of freedom speech than they used to be.
Following a record year in which Big Tech companies spent around $55million lobbying, the Internet Association lobbying group was defunct.
Perhaps the OIA is filling a lobbying void, advocating for legislation favorable to tech companies under the guise of making the internet more “open”?
Conservatives under attack. Reach out to your senators, representatives and legislators to ask them to hold Big Tech responsible for the First Amendment. They should also provide clearer information on hate speech. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s Contact formPlease help us make Big Tech more accountable.
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