If you’re wondering why, when JD Vance was asked if he’d certify the 2024 election, he (weirdly) pivoted to allege “Kamala Harris is engaged in censorship at an industrial scale,” I gotchu. 1/
Over the past 2.5 years, the Republican party (and some on the far left) have manufactured a crisis that claims Americans’ right to free speech is under attack. 2/
They have ripped quotes from their context to sound scary; tonight Vance invoked Walz once saying “there’s no guarantee to free speech on misinformation”. Except that Walz was speaking *explicitly* about voter intimidation, which is not protected speech! 3/mediaite.com/news/viral-vid…
They have claimed, without evidence, that anyone who:
-does research about rumors online
-implements social media platform rules that protect safety and health
-talks about either of the above to public or private partners
...is engaging in censorship. 4/
-does research about rumors online
-implements social media platform rules that protect safety and health
-talks about either of the above to public or private partners
...is engaging in censorship. 4/
This simply isn’t true. We @AmericanSunProj have unpacked the past two and a half years of attacks on academics, government entities and beyond, and shown that the claims Vance just elevated to the VP debate stage are baseless. 5/ americansunlight.org/ilc-report
@AmericanSunProj We’re not the only ones who have highlighted the lack of evidence here; the Supreme Court—with Amy Coney Barrett leading the majority—dismissed a case on this very topic! 6/msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-…
@AmericanSunProj “Censorship” is a dogwhistle to voters who have been told, over and over again, that Democrats are communists, fascists, or worse. It’s easy shorthand to solidify an enemy. 7/
@AmericanSunProj Not surprising, because violence is a feature for this party, not a bug. Claims like these have put people in physical danger: I’ve dealt with credible threats because people believe I was, am, or would like to be engaged in censorship. (I did not, am not, would not.) 8/
@AmericanSunProj “Censorship,” apparently, is what Vance believes is a threat to democracy akin to an armed mob storming the Capitol Building. But the glaring difference between the two is that one of them actually happened. /end
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
