Boston Herald

Fight over social media censorship

Columnist testifies about bias vs. conservati­ves

- Adriana Cohen is a nationally syndicated columnist and Herald Radio host.

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (DTenn.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, put forth a condescend­ing, despicable display on Capitol Hill yesterday, where I testified at a subcommitt­ee hearing on social media censorship of conservati­ves.

Cohen kicked off his opening statement trashing the president, saying the hearing was a huge waste of time, while accusing conservati­ves of “making a fetish out their own supposed victimhood.”

No surprise a radical left-winger like him — who’s drafted articles of impeachmen­t against President Trump — isn’t interested in the free speech rights of half the country who support the president. Nor are his Democratic colleagues. But voters know full well that if any Democratic-favored special interest group was being wrongfully discrimina­ted against by an American company, liberal lawmakers would be screaming from the rooftops.

But since social media censorship is squarely impacting Trump supporters, Democrat lawmakers — many who receive hefty donations from Silicon Valley — don’t give a hoot. Why would they bite the hand that feeds them?

I shared with the committee the pervasive censorship and discrimina­tion I’m experienci­ng on Twitter and Facebook and asked them to consider the following: “Imagine if the phone company refused to connect phone calls between two parties because they didn’t like the opinions expressed in the conversati­on. This is exactly what Twitter is doing to me and thousands of conservati­ves like me every single day throughout the nation.”

I also noted that these powerful tech companies are meddling in elections by allowing Democrats to connect with millions of voters on its platforms and shape public opinion while denying that same opportunit­y to many conservati­ves.

A New York law professor who spoke at the hearing said if people want to get blocked less on social media, they should stop posting lies, defamatory statements, conspiracy theories and fake news. I vociferous­ly responded that there’s nothing I’ve ever said that’s any of that and pointed out that Facebook even censored the Declaratio­n of Independen­ce this summer.

Seriously folks. Facebook labeled it “hate speech.”

I told the law prof that if he considers the Declaratio­n of Independen­ce to be hate speech he doesn’t belong in this country.

I’m glad I did my part to stand up for conservati­ves and our rights to free speech. I hope you’ll join me in doing the same.

 ?? STAFF FILE PHOTO BY NANCY LANE ?? SPEAKING OUT: Adriana Cohen, seen above in 2017, testified at a House subcommitt­ee hearing yesterday about social media censorship of conservati­ve voices such as hers.
STAFF FILE PHOTO BY NANCY LANE SPEAKING OUT: Adriana Cohen, seen above in 2017, testified at a House subcommitt­ee hearing yesterday about social media censorship of conservati­ve voices such as hers.
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