White House Advisor Calls for Big Tech to ‘Jump In,’ Censor So-Called Disinformation

Here we go again! White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy said “we need the tech companies to really jump in” to combat so-called disinformation and misinformation.

It’s not the first time the Biden administration has advocated for Big Tech censorship.

McCarthy spoke at an Axios event titled “A conversation on battling misinformation.” During the event, she called on tech companies to get more involved. “[T]he tech companies have to stop allowing specific individuals over and over again to spread disinformation,” she said.

Axios described the event as an examination of “real world impacts of misinformation on public health and climate action.” When asked if misinformation is a “threat to public health itself,” McCarthy said it is. “It’s not just denial of this, it’s also greenwashing.”

Axios’ White House National Climate Advisor joined Axios in reassuring viewers that President Joe Biden “understands climate change poses an existential danger” and promoting his clean-energy initiatives. According to her, “We must get together as a country and recognize that clean electricity is the solution.”

McCarthy’s comments are yet another example of the Biden administration’s advocacy of online censorship.

Biden’s paused Disinformation Governance Board (DGB) is perhaps the White House’s most egregious action to counter so-called “disinformation.” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas claimed that the Biden administration created the DGB to combat the “threat” of disinformation and misinformation.

Ex-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also conveyed the Biden administration’s concern about misinformation. “We are regularly making sure social media platforms are aware of the latest narratives dangerous to public health that we and many other Americans are seeing across all of social and traditional media,” she said.

Surgeon general Dr. Vivek Murthy echoed McCarthy’s sentiments in July 2021 when he declared “misinformation” a “serious threat to public health.” He urged all Americans to “help slow the spread of health misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.”

Freedom of speech activists have voiced concerns about government intervention in the moderation and monitoring of social media content. This is contrary to the First Amendment. Philanthropy Roundtable board member and author Vivek Ramaswamy explained that “[Big Tech companies’] censorship constitutes state action because the government granted them immunity from legal liability, threatened to punish them if they allow disfavored speech, and colluded with them in choosing targets for censorship.”

The Congressional Research Service reported similar concerns. The report outlined that constitutional issues may arise “when the government’s informal attempts to encourage or threaten regulation involve matters concerning speech.” According to this logic, when the government pressures Big Tech companies to censor content, the censorship can be considered state action and a violation of the First Amendment. This presents a problem as the “private party’s act is no longer considered an ‘independent decision.’”

Gabriela Pariseau (MRC Free Speech America) was a researcher and writer who contributed to this report.

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