Freedom of the Press Died Last Week & The Media Was Largely Silent

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Last week, Jim Jordan chaired the House Weaponization of Government Subcommittee meeting on government overreach and collusion with technology companies. 

Independent journalists Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger, both of whom claim to have voted Democrat and have been leading voices in the Twitter Files releases, were asked to testify before the hearing. 

The Twitter Files have exposed the criminal civil liberty violations by federal and state governments through a collaborative censorship network that included academia, NGOs and technology companies.

During the hearing, the American People – especially the real journalists – watched in horror as the Democrat Ranking Member Stacey Plaskett, the Virgin Islands delegate, joined by disgraced Florida Democrat Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Texas Democrat Slyvia Garcia, pressured the two independent journalists to reveal their sources.

Plaskett called Taibbi and Shellenberger “so-called journalists” who “pose a direct threat to people who oppose them,” before Garcia pressured Taibbi for his direct. The sources cited in the Twitter Files include both high ranking executives and lower level sources. 

This is a stunning time in American history.

Worse, the same day as the hearing the world learned that, on December 13, the Federal Trade Commission demanded in a letter that Twitter reveal the list of journalists who have accessed the Twitter Files. According the the New York Post, “FTC sent 12 letters to Twitter making more than 350 demands.”

So much for private companies making private decisions, right? So much for freedom of the press.

In a letter to the FTC last week, Jordan and other legislators said the FTC’s demand “represents a government inquiry into First Amendment-protected activity…the federal government demanding that a private company reveal the names of the journalists who are engaged in reporting about matters of public interest, including potential government misconduct.” 

He’s right. Where is the media? It’s a pretty weird turn of events that the media isn’t covering the government harassment of the institution of journalism. 

Where is the rest of Congress on this? Remember your oath.