Dem Rep. Ted Lieu explains why Twitter censoring conservatives and GOPers is good, actually

From the moment Bari Weiss dropped The Twitter Files Part 2, we knew that it was going to make people angry. Naturally, it made conservatives angry, because here was rock-solid proof of a coordinated Twitter campaign to silence conservative voices, meaning conservative voices had, in fact, been silence.

It made a lot of lefties angry, too. But their anger wasn’t on behalf of their ideological counterparts who’d been getting screwed over. Their anger wasn’t over blatant censorship on a purportedly open, free-speech-friendly platform. No, their anger was at Weiss, Elon Musk, and anyone who helped amplify Weiss’ reporting and took issue with conservatives being censored.

Plenty of lefty journalists have been hard at work playing down what Twitter did or making excuses for it, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t also give a shout-out to the Democratic politicians who are doing the same thing. Democratic politicians like Rep. Ted Lieu, who seems particularly annoyed that Twitter’s censorship shenanigans have been exposed for all to see:

As @bariweiss clearly describes, the rules were enforced against the right, but not against the left

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 9, 2022

This post by @elonmusk assumes the right and the left are somehow the same. We are not.

Folks on the right said COVID was a hoax. Folks on the left said it was not. Twitter absolutely had the right to enforce rules against COVID deniers, who were disproportionally on the right. https://t.co/KkrhNX9j3A

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) December 9, 2022

Oh please.

This is just not true. There was widespread disagreement across the spectrum. https://t.co/tB3FXCDGmS

— F* Your Short Memory 🏴 Anti-Cult of Absurdity (@BucMon21) December 9, 2022

It’s important to point out that “COVID deniers” is Ted’s term for anyone he disagrees with. Because he’s referring to Republicans, as opposed to all the Democratic politicians and journalists who were quick to inform the public at the beginning of the global pandemic that COVID was nothing to lose sleep over and also if you were worried about COVID, you were a racist xenophobe. In fact, Republicans who expressed concerns about COVID were for month dismissed as anti-science racist rubes.

"Three loonybins on the right represent the whole right, therefore I am a superior human. Please don't look at what the crazies on the left say thanks." https://t.co/gFqzcbS32A

— Hawggystyle (@Hawggystyle23) December 9, 2022

They went from "it's not happening" to "you deserved it though!"
Completely ignoring the massive lies and disinformation perpetrated by DNC-aligned media. https://t.co/VjiIPwmFoW

— Uncomfortable Brain (@uncomfybrain) December 9, 2022

Let's review the scoreboard:

Left: "COVID has a death rate of ~2%" – Wrong
Left: "Stay home to save Grandma" – Grandma got COVID
Left: "Lab leak is a conspiracy theory" – Wrong
Left: "Vax will end the pandemic" – Wrong

Looks like the left probably deserved to be censored. https://t.co/DeKJ6yaufC

— The Black Horse (@TheBlackHorse65) December 9, 2022

Ted here assumes we’re all idiots with the memories of Dory… https://t.co/C2asiYyJqB

— Heather B (@BoulwareH2) December 9, 2022

Well, Ted here is sorely mistaken. He’s also quite the little wannabe tyrant, isn’t he?

This is Authoritarianism. Silencing an entire political party because you think you’re right and they are wrong. https://t.co/a7EAsI1rLK

— Michael Sullivan (@Sully21) December 9, 2022

Congressman arguing against first amendment principles

— Pineal Podcast (@Pinealpodcast) December 9, 2022

False. I’m supporting Twitter’s right to free speech. Twitter can ban whoever it wants. Or promote cute cat videos. Or not. The First Amendment prevents government from interfering in what Twitter wants to do or not do.

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) December 9, 2022

There was never any doubt that Twitter could ban whomever they wanted to ban. The issue was that they were banning people or reducing visibility despite insisting that they weren’t doing it.

"It's different when WE do it" https://t.co/z1R4JN7QtR

— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) December 9, 2022

"Yes, they were doing it, and it was good ackshually."

The absolute buckshot response messaging on this is amazing. Just say all of the things at once and see what sticks. https://t.co/lVxvODLEcb

— Noam Blum (@neontaster) December 9, 2022

I think this is actually the most genuine argument that most media/tech/culture warriors are trying to say:

“We’re the good guys and you’re the bad guys, so pretty much anything we say or do is justified. It’s not that we’re biased, it’s just that your side is awful.” https://t.co/TaapZ3WYSq

— Parker Briden (@parkerwbriden) December 9, 2022

Kudos to Ted Lieu for finally just saying it out loud, we guess.

https://twitter.com/NotGunslinger/status/1601231342637056000