COVID censorship

Extracted Attributes

• Criticisms

  Attack on science, attack on American ideals, threat to civil liberties (First Amendment), jeopardizes constitutional freedoms, leads to totalitarianism, viewpoint discrimination, suppression of core political speech, prior restraint, used for financial gain, used to avoid responsibility

• Definition

  Suppression of viewpoints related to the COVID-19 pandemic that ran counter to or questioned government policies or preferred narratives.

• Methods Employed

  Compelling/collaborating with private intermediaries, public statements, behind-the-scenes communications, coercive pressure, prior restraint, viewpoint discrimination

• Associated Legal Cases

  Missouri v. Biden, Dressen v. Flaherty

• Primary Actors (Private)

  Social media companies (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok), Amazon

• Primary Actors (Government)

  US federal officials and agencies, Biden Administration, White House, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

• Examples of Censored Content

  Views questioning vaccine efficacy/safety, government policies, origin of SARS-CoV-2, true speech, factual testimonials, humorous posts, personal anecdotes, private speech in online support groups, political expression, scientific papers presenting heterodox views

• Stated Justifications (Government)

  To counter misinformation, mitigate the pandemic

Timeline

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s book "A Letter to Liberals: Censorship and COVID: An Attack on Science and American Ideals" was published, accusing the Democratic Party of suppressing critical thinking. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2022

• Over 10,000 articles were retracted, an all-time annual record, including those presenting heterodox views of COVID-19 vaccines. (Source: web_search_results)

  2023

• Emails between Rob Flaherty (White House's director of digital media) and social media executives emerged in the discovery phase of *Missouri v. Biden*, proving coercive pressure from the White House for COVID censorship. (Source: web_search_results)

  2023-01-06

• A document titled "The White House Covid Censorship Machine" was published on Congress.gov, detailing the White House's major role in censoring Americans on social media. (Source: web_search_results)

  2023-03-28

• Numerous federal officials and agencies implemented an expansive censorship apparatus to suppress COVID-related viewpoints. (Source: web_search_results)

  During COVID pandemic

• White House officials coerced social media platforms to censor messages deemed detrimental to COVID regulations. (Source: web_search_results)

  During COVID pandemic

• Authorities dictated the discourse on all things COVID, creating a climate of censorship. (Source: web_search_results)

  During COVID pandemic

A Letter to Liberals

A Letter to Liberals: Censorship and COVID: An Attack on Science and American Ideals is a 2022 book by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The book accused the Democratic Party of the United States of lacking critical thinking, and urged the party to protect civil liberties, specifically the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The book was criticized by Current Affairs magazine for spreading misinformation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, although it drew praise from The American Conservative.

Web Search Results

• Massive Government Censorship During and About Covid

  During the Covid pandemic, numerous federal officials and agencies implemented an expansive censorship apparatus, which was used to compel—and, in some instances, collaborate with—social media companies and other private intermediaries to suppress a range of Covid-related viewpoints that ran counter to or questioned the government’s policies or preferred narrative. The censored viewpoints included those which questioned or criticized: (a) the efficacy and/or safety of the Covid vaccines; (b) [...] viewpoints would be censored. As detailed in one of NCLA’s ongoing cases (Dressen v. Flaherty), the Covid-related content targeted for censorship included true speech, factual testimonials, humorous posts (e.g., memes, gifs), and personal anecdotes. Even private speech posted in online support groups—and not accessible to the public—for individuals who had been injured by one of the Covid vaccines was also monitored and suppressed. [...] The federal actors involved in the censorship enterprise employed several tactics, ranging from public statements to behind-the-scenes communications with social media companies in an effort to compel the major platforms (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok) to remove or suppress content that the government deemed to be mis-, dis-, or malinformation.(#_ftn2)

• [PDF] The Antidote of Free Speech: Censorship During the Pandemic

  COVID policy criticism, it is political expression nestled on the “highest rung” of First Amendment hierarchy. 18 Systematically silencing such speech under the guise of misinformation jeopardizes constitutional freedoms, and if unchecked, will be the fulcrum for totalitarianism. The COVID censorship is especially egregious because it combines three aggressive form s of government action: viewpoint discrimination, suppression of core political speech, and prior [...] protections. These safeguards include the government’s burden to demonstrate that its actions serve a compelling interest using the least restrictive means of speech available. 13 Authorities used prior restraint with great vigor during the COVID pandemic, the focus of Part IV. White House officials coerced social media platforms to censor messages deemed detrimental to COVID regulations. Worse, this collaboration was often shro uded in secrecy, evading constitutional [...] and demanded their alteration. 8 In a press release, Warren insisted Amazon stamp out the books denounced in her letter. 9 Within 48 hours Amazon and other sellers duly distanced themselves from the heresy. 10 As this obedience reflects, authorities dictated the discourse on all things COVID and a climate of censorship took root. Those challenging COVID policies were accused of sowing misinformation and sabotaging the government’s ability to mitigate the

• [PDF] A Narrative Review of the COVID-19 Infodemic and Censorship in ...

  In this paper, we demonstrate how censorship and secrecy were employed by organizations and governments dur ing the COVID -19 pandemic for financial gain and to avoid responsibility for their actions during the COVID -19 pandemic. Four topic areas are used for illustrative purposes: (1) the origin of the SARS -CoV -2 virus, (2) measures recommended by governments to deal with the pandemic, (3) COVID -19 vaccines, and (4) [...] COVID -19, was censored when he was disinvited by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) to give a keynote presentation at their Annual Meeting. The ACCP’s stated reason was that people had tweeted their opposition to Prasad being invited (Prasad 2023). Another example of censorship related to the vaccines involves Dr. Panagis Polykretis, a Greek/Italian biologist who hypothesized the mechanism of autoimmune inflammation triggered by the COVID -19 [...] Another type of censorship related to the COVID -19 vaccines involves the retraction of published papers and preprint articles that present heterodox views of COVID -19 vaccines. According to the journal Nature , 21 Liester et al.: A Narrative Review of the COVID-19 Infodemic and Censorship in Healthcare Published by SJSU ScholarWorks, 2025 more than 10,000 articles were retracted in 2023 - an all -time annual record

• [PDF] The White House Covid Censorship Machine - Congress.gov

  PHOTO: TOM BRENNER/REUTERS Newly released documents show that the White House has played a major role in censoring Americans on social media. Email exchanges between Rob Flaherty, the White House’s director of digital media, and social-media executives prove the companies put Covid censorship policies in place in response to relentless, coercive pressure from the White House —not voluntarily. The emails emerged Jan. 6 in the discovery phase of Missouri v. Biden, a free-speech case brought by [...] Emails made public through earlier lawsuits, Freedom of Information Act requests and Elon Musk’s release of the Twitter Files had already exposed a sprawling censorship regime involving the White House as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies. [...] The government directed tech companies to remove certain types of material and even to censor specific posts and accounts. Again, these included truthful messages casting doubt on the efficacy of masks and challenging Covid-19 vaccine mandates.

• The Supreme Court rules on the government pressuring websites to ...

  “Hines showed that, when she sued, Facebook was censoring her COVID-related posts and groups. And because the White House prompted Facebook to amend its censorship policies, Hines’s censorship was, at least in part, caused by the White House and could be redressed by an injunction against the continuation of that conduct. For these reasons, Hines met all the requirements for Article III standing,” Alito argued.