Joe Biden briefly criticized Big Tech in Tuesday's State of the Union address, but he neglected to mention online censorship. The move sparked numerous reactions on Twitter from total Biden bashing to outright praise.
Joe Biden called on Congress to hold social media companies accountable during his State of the Union address.
But, while some left-leaning media and political figures praised his remarks, other more right-leaning accounts slammed Biden’s hypocrisy in light of recent revelations that Big Tech and big government colluded to censor Americans.
Congressman Byron Donalds (R-FL) advertised the Feb. 8 House Oversight committee hearing on tech censorship in the wake of SOTU, since Biden discussed social media and antitrust but not censorship. “Biden talked a lot about big-tech, but forgot to mention the social media censorship of differing political opinions,” Donalds tweeted.
Becker News CEO Kyle Becker not only critiqued the SOTU but went farther, calling for Biden’s impeachment. “Biden's administration coordinated with Big Tech to silence political dissent and ban users from speaking their minds freely — a blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution,” Becker tweeted, referring to evidence that the Biden White House was directly involved in pushing tech companies to censor. “He talks about 'holding Big Tech accountable.' No, he should be held accountable. By being impeached #SOTU,” Becker added.
Newsmax host Sean Spicer also slammed Biden’s claim of wanting to hold social media companies accountable. He referred to the fact that Biden has previously promoted TikTok influencers and has so far refused to ban the app, despite a growing bipartisan consensus on the app’s national security risks. “You can’t claim you want to hold Big Tech accountable and be worried about them scooping up personal data and promote China’s Tiktok at the same time #sotu2023 #SOTU,” Spicer tweeted.
Some Twitter accounts were less critical and even praised Biden’s SOTU tech remarks. Yelp’s Public Policy Senior Vice President Luther Lowe seemed impressed. He tweeted a video clip with the comment, “BOOM. The first time the President has said ‘antitrust’ in a State of the Union since 1979. Biden calls for laws to curb Big Tech’s self-dealing.”
Left-leaning tech nonprofit Common Sense Media praised Biden and tweeted his SOTU quote about social media accountability and protecting children. “We agree with and applaud @POTUS for calling on Congress to protect kids from online harms in last night's #SOTU. Children’s online safety should never be sacrificed for the financial gain of social media companies,” the account tweeted.
Evan Greer, director of leftist digital activist group Fight for the Future, had a more moderate take but still approved of Biden’s SOTU tech comments. “Overall Biden's #SOTU tech priorities were pretty good,” Greer tweeted. “He steered clear of calling for content regulation or gutting Section 230, and focused instead on #antitrust and #privacy legislation. Specifically: ban targeted advertising for kids, restrict data collection for everyone.”
Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that government agencies, the White House and Big Tech be held to account to uphold the First Amendment. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
