Imagine Microsoft's Bing search engine as a 'public utility' you were stuck with by default
Matt Taibbi: Mainstream press doesn't care about Big Tech censorship
Independent journalist Matt Taibbi joins 'FOX News @ Night' to discuss the attack on free speech by the legacy media.
President Joe Biden seems undeterred by federal courts telling him coercion of social media is a violation of the First Amendment. Now, his tactics are becoming even more unsettling – bringing the full force of the U.S. bureaucracy to down on businesses enabling free expression online.
A creative new example of this weaponization of government was revealed recently when Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stepped up to testify during the Justice Department’s antitrust trial against Google.
While sitting in the courtroom, we heard gasps as the CEO of the second-largest corporation on the planet, Nadella, declared that Microsoft would run its Bing search engine as a "public utility" — only if Biden were to force everyone to use Bing by default.
This type of regulation, if implemented, would give the government the power to set controls over how we use search and what results we get, just like it does with our water and electricity. This means regulators could have the authority to ensure any "unwanted" results are eliminated in searches.
President Joe Biden is abusing executive power to target tech companies and control speech online. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
If every American is forced to use Bing as a "public utility," it would be great for Microsoft, giving them a government-protected, permanent monopoly on search. But this move would not only restrict our choices for a preferred search engine.
Today, we can choose whether to use Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google or others. But if allowed, this Biden mandate would make our searches more like Microsoft’s Bing searches in China, where Microsoft complies with the government’s requests to block information on Bing. That’s a pretty clear restriction on free expression.
Unfortunately, this isn’t Biden’s first free-speech attack. He tried with a "Disinformation Governance Board," at the Department of Homeland Security, and it’s hard to forget how the actions of so-called "security experts" were able to chill discussions of the Hunter Biden laptop.
Nowhere is this free-speech attack more obvious than in Biden’s administrative war against Elon Musk. Once a progressive darling, Musk committed the original sin of allowing former President Donald Trump back on X, as Twitter is now known.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION
Now, Musk is public enemy number one for progressives, and the Biden administration is launching its administrative state artillery for Musk’s failure to manage his social media platform how Biden wants.
In the past few months, we’ve seen the FTC investigating X for not blocking enough content and a suit against Tesla. Not satisfied with attacking Musk’s businesses, Biden’s DOJ is bringing criminal actions against Musk himself. This isn’t about justice or protecting Americans; it’s about controlling speech and punishing those who buck progressive orders.
Fortunately, courts and Congress are pushing back against this threat. Ongoing lawsuits are heading to the Supreme Court related to government encroachment on free expression. First, Missouri and Louisiana’s attorneys general are suing Biden for his harassment of social media companies to remove content his administration didn’t like related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Second are my company's suits before the US Supreme Court against government-compelled speech, NetChoice v. Paxton and Moody v. NetChoice.
In Congress, Republicans are working to advance legislation like the Protecting Free Speech From Government Interference Act, which makes clear that federal employees cannot use their government positions to coerce social media companies to remove content they don’t like.
These are efforts all Americans should support. Remember the "golden rule" and recognize that any power given to this president and administration will be used by a future one, too, and our leadership should stand with the people and protect the First Amendment.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM CARL SZABO
Carl Szabo is vice president and general counsel for NetChoice, and professor of internet law at the George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School.
