AP Decries Apple, Google and Others for Hosting Podcast ‘Extremism’

January 18th, 2021 2:53 PM

The left has apparently turned to podcasts as yet another source of “misinformation” with few social media platforms left for them to chastise. 

AP News called podcasts “a loophole in social moderation.” The wire service balked at the idea of allowing podcast listeners to “tune into the world of the QAnon conspiracy theory, wallow in President Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election and bask in other extremism.”

AP continued: “Major social platforms have been cracking down on the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories in the leadup to the presidential election, and expanded their efforts in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. But Apple and Google, among others, have left open a major loophole for this material: Podcasts.”

AP provided several examples of podcasts it deemed to be extremist. “Conspiracy theorists have peddled stolen-election fantasies, coronavirus conspiracies and violent rhetoric. One podcaster, RedPill78, called the Capitol siege a ‘staged event’ in a Jan. 11 episode of Red Pill News. The day before the Capitol riot, a more popular podcast, X22 Report, spoke confidently about a Trump second term, explained that Trump would need to ‘remove’ many members of Congress to further his plans, and said ‘We the people, we are the storm, and we’re coming to DC,’” AP reported. 

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, Reddit, TikTok and even Shopify have all censored President Donald Trump. Apple and Google’s app stores dumped the free speech-oriented Parler app, and Amazon went so far as to remove the app from its web hosting services. But, of course, all of this censorship has still not been enough for some in the liberal media. In fact, the hosts of CNN’s Morning Joe called for Facebook to be “shut down” for the “insurrection” at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. 

Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.