The Censorship-Industrial Complex and How It has the Internet in its Grip
On May 1 this year, the Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, brought out a report that describes the CIC as an entity that assesses and removes unacceptable content, filters and manipulates search engine results, flags disfavored material, and deplatforms and silences offenders. It treats speech as a permitted activity rather than a fundamental right.
The policies of the CIC, the report says, are essentially designed to quash the hallmark feature of the internet as a forum for open discourse befitting a free society, a space where the truth is discovered through dialogue and debate, empowering people to hold governments accountable and hence significantly reducing the risk of tyranny.
In 2023, 138 scholars, public intellectuals, and journalists from across the political spectrum framed the Westminster Declaration, warning of the CIC’s machinations and urging its dismantling. The pushback has begun, and must continue with full force.