,
25 tweets,
10 min read
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This tweet is far more disturbing then it appears on the surface (which is already disturbing). Let me explain with a thread. /1
It's well covered that Trump admires some of the world's leading autocrats and aspires to emulating their misrule. One of those he has lavished praise on is Hungary's Viktor Orban, who has dismantled Hungarian democracy and its free press. /2 abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump…
Here's the Orban playbook for dismantling a free press: Step 1: Use the regulatory powers of government to investigate and fine media outlets that are critical of the government and spend state resources (ad dollars etc) to boost those media outlets that are friendly. /3
Step 2: When those critical outlets face business troubles because the govt has tilted the commercial competitive landscape away from them, investors who are allies of the govt swoop in to buy those outlets. /4 nytimes.com/2014/09/09/opi…
Step 3: Under new govt-friendly owners, the regulatory thumb is lifted, the value of the entity increases, and the investor turns a handy profit. /5 euractiv.com/section/future…
Step 4: Now in control, the govt-friendly owner purges journalists and coverage that are critical of the government and consolidates the outlet into a cheerleader for the regime. /6 byline.com/column/59
Step 5: Having seen what happened to media entities who experienced this, other journalists and outlets operate with a sword of damocles over their heads and feel compelled to self-censor. /7 cpj.org/2014/10/hungar…
Step 6: With the media in the hands of the governing party's allies, Orban is able to push through radically anti-democratic measures that further consolidate his power bc the media overwhelms the public in support of those measures. /8 bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
@NewspaperWorld documented this dynamic in its report "Capturing them Softly: Soft Censorship and State Capture in Hungarian Media" mertek.eu/wp-content/upl… /9
And @freedomhouse has called this a "government-led takeover of the media market." It noted after a govt ally purchased TV2, it became a pro-govt propaganda outlet used to advance the govt's refugee quota campaign and smear political opponents. /10 freedomhouse.org/report/nations…
The culmination of this campaign was the sudden closure of Népszabadság, Hungary’s largest newspaper and its key paper of record, who's parent company was purchased by an Orban ally. /11 reuters.com/article/us-hun…
@freedomhouse most recent report states "the Fidesz-led government and associated business persons consolidated their positions in 2017 and, with few exceptions, acquired the last bastions of independent print media in Hungary." /12 freedomhouse.org/report/nations…
This brings us back to Trump's tweet. Trump has been engaged in Step 1 since he began his Admin, filing an antitrust action against AT&T to punish @CNN for its coverage and raising shipping rates on Amazon to try to punish the owner of the @washingtonpost among other things. /13
Recently, he's upped the campaign by stripping White House hard passes from reporters whose coverage he dislikes like @Acosta @Milbank @BrianKarem. /14
And he's used state resources, including his office and twitter account, to give valuable advertising to media outlets he sees as loyal (which I wont name here so as not to give them more free advertising, but just think when he tells millions to watch a specific program). /15
The AT&T antitrust action, which failed, still cost @CNN owners significant $ and time to defend. /16
Trump's tweet suggests the playbook is moving on to Step 2, with activist investor Paul Singer, a major Trump backer, buying a large stake in AT&T. /17 marketwatch.com/story/atts-sto…
I'm not saying Singer is in some plot with Trump to purchase enough of AT&T to influence @CNN coverage, but I'd be a lot less alarmed if Trump had not tweeted that a major business ally had just bought a large stake in the media entity Trump has most prominently targeted. /18
Because that fact so closely tracks the Orban playbook, it's critical to call out and watch closely. But it also should be enough of a warning to us that the Orban playbook is possible that we begin doing more to guard against it. /19
One thing @protctdemocracy has done is file a lawsuit on behalf of @PENamerica to stop this playbook in its tracks. The lawsuit makes clear that Trump's campaign of regulatory retaliation against outlets he doesn't like violates the First Amendment. /20 protectdemocracy.org/pen-america-v-…
We also filed a brief in the recent case @BoutrousTed brought on behalf of @BrianKarem to make clear that what happened to Karem (and @Acosta and @Milbank) cannot be viewed in isolation. They are part of this larger campaign. /21 protectdemocracy.org/update/protect…
But Congress must act as well. They should open investigations into how Trump is (mis)using the powers of his office to retaliate against media he dislikes and provide improper govt support to media he favors. /22
And elected officials should state loudly on the record that while Trump is free to speak his mind and say distasteful things, including things critical of the press, when he uses govt power to retaliate against media outlets he doesn't like, he violates our Constitution. /23
Because if we allow Trump to get to Steps 3, 4, 5 and 6 of Orban's playbook, it will be too late. /end
Update: This thread alarmed a lot of people. I think rightfully as it alarms me too. @anneapplebaum has an important related piece on it up now, on how #AutocraticCapture threatens our democracy. beta.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-t…
