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A recent congressional report has unveiled troubling actions by a little-known advertising cartel that controls 90% of global marketing spending. This cartel has been implicated in efforts to defund major news outlets, including The New York Post, by using blacklists compiled by a government-funded group that claims to protect consumers from “misinformation,” according to the information provided in the The Post report that appeared on Thursday. The House Judiciary Committee’s interim report, released Wednesday, sheds light on the operations of the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and its Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) initiative.
The WFA represents 150 of the world’s top companies, such as ExxonMobil, GM, General Mills, McDonald’s, Visa, SC Johnson, and Walmart, along with 60 ad associations. As was detailed in The Post report, through its GARM initiative, the WFA has been accused of orchestrating efforts to suppress online free speech by defunding news outlets and platforms deemed unfavorable. The House Judiciary Committee’s 39-page report details how GARM encouraged its members to use a blacklist compiled by the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), a shadowy government-funded organization based in London.
.@Jim_Jordan rips the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) for seeking to strip advertising from news outlets it dislikes. pic.twitter.com/j5smxPwZAc
— Tom Olohan (@tolohan) July 10, 2024
The report’s findings suggest that GARM’s actions likely violate antitrust laws and pose a threat to fundamental American freedoms. “The extent to which GARM has organized its trade association and coordinates actions that rob consumers of choices is likely illegal under the antitrust laws and threatens fundamental American freedoms,” the Republican-led panel stated, The Post report indicated. The committee expressed alarm over the collusive conduct of WFA and GARM to demonetize disfavored content, highlighting the potential for significant legal repercussions.
Did you know this @elonmusk ?
“The Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) has partnered with the World Economic Forum (WEF) to improve the safety of digital environments, addressing harmful and misleading media while protecting consumers and brands.”
Why is Twitter… pic.twitter.com/asAEsiQ1x6
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) August 23, 2023
This is not the first time efforts were made to intentionally silence conservative media outlets. Since 2018, The Jewish Voice has been targeted by organizations that hold sway with the powers that be in order to quash our first amendment right to freedom of expression. As a result, for the last six years The Jewish Voice’s numbers as it pertains to followers on social media platforms has remained stagnant. Clearly, those who wish to follow The Jewish Voice are being prevented from doing so as those “arbiters of truth” are on a campaign to quell views that they deem to be abhorrent and not worthy of being promulgated. At one time, The Jewish Voice has close to a million followers but once it was discovered that we did not adhere to the liberal doctrine that promoted a far left woke counter culture, the numbers of followers took a precipitous nosedive.
Jewish Voice publisher, David Ben Hooren said, “For several years now, the Jewish Voice has been targeted by an insidious shadow banning campaign that was orchestrated by Facebook and Twitter and frankly, this is totally outrageous and unacceptable. We are a conventional news site that delivers an even-handed account of the news, so there is no reason that we should be silenced.”
Chilling.
An organization run by junk food companies (Mars, Nestle, Unilever, Diageo) created the Global Alliance for Responsible Media in order to pressure censorship of @joerogan (whose most consistent message is to eat healthy food and exercise). https://t.co/Q1bWv6Y79f
— Calley Means (@calleymeans) July 10, 2024
He added that “Our followers are being blocked on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. This means that new followers cannot join and our numbers are completely stagnant because of the manipulation of the algorithms that essentially control the expression of free speech and thought in this country. Whether one wants to refer to it as “The Deep State” or those in charge of the “woke, progressive” revolution, the results are the same. The Jewish Voice and others like us are being censored and we will continue to speak out about this until justice is served and this situation is completely rectified.”
In August of 2023, The Jewish Voice reported that in memos released by Facebook, the social media giant was pressured by the Biden White House into altering its algorithms so that mainstream news sources would be elevated over conservative sites, as was reported by Eric Lendrum of the American Greatness web site.
Lendrum wrote: “As Just The News reports, the documents over to the House Judiciary Committee following a subpoena detail a series of meetings between Facebook executives and White House Digital Director Rob Flaherty in the spring of 2021. The demands from the White House focused on posts related to the Chinese coronavirus and the efficiency of the COVID vaccines.
In one meeting on April 14th, 2021, Flaherty asked Facebook if it was possible to artificially promote outlets such as the New York Times and the Washington Post, instead the Daily Wire and Fox News, particularly commentator Tomi Lahren.
“If you were to change the algorithm so that people were more likely to see NYT, WSJ, any authoritative news source over Daily Wire, Tomi Lahren, polarizing people,” Flaherty asked. “You wouldn’t have a mechanism to check the material impact?”
“We have to explain to President, Ron [Klain], people, why there is misinfo on the internet, bigger problem than FB,” said Flaherty, according to the typed notes from Facebook executives. “Where issues are, what interventions are, how well they are working, for products, want to engage in things that you know to be effective. I don’t even care about specific methodology, you have better, richer data than we’ll ever have.”
“Never-before-released internal documents subpoenaed by the Judiciary Committee PROVE that Facebook and Instagram censored posts and changed their content moderation policies because of unconstitutional pressure from the Biden White House,” said Congressman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, on Twitter, as was reported by Lendrum at American Greatness.
Well, well, well it seems we have a cartel working with Democrats of the Legislative and the Executive Branches of our government.
They are known as GARM (Global Alliance for Responsible Media) and they’re directly linked with the WEF. What a surprise.
It appears that X and… pic.twitter.com/sRwfKWt6GL
— Sticklizard (@Sticklizard3) July 11, 2024
Constitutional scholars have also raised the alarm over the revelations, with George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley saying that he has “asked Congress to pass a law barring federal employees from engaging in censorship and targeting of citizens.”
“Agencies have a right to speak in their own voices,” Turley added. “Instead, the Biden Administration sought to engage in what I have called ‘censorship through surrogate.’ This is part of that pattern.”
In this age in which we live, we are witnessing a severe erosion of our constitutional rights and this should be of utmost concern to all Americans. The democratic principles on which our country is predicated upon are under siege by the ominous forces of the fascist left wing “woke” mob that appears to hold sway in government and media.
And let us not forget that the social media chieftains who line their pockets with astronomical profits must bear responsibility for this institutionalized censorship. That means Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook (Meta) who falsely claimed that he created a platform that was accepting of divergent perspectives when in fact, his team of algorithm tyrants continue to censure and ban views for no other reason than that they are personally abhorrent to them.
Chilling.
An organization run by junk food companies (Mars, Nestle, Unilever, Diageo) created the Global Alliance for Responsible Media in order to pressure censorship of @joerogan (whose most consistent message is to eat healthy food and exercise). https://t.co/Q1bWv6Y79f
— Calley Means (@calleymeans) July 10, 2024
They are the self-styled arbiters of what can be said and what must be relegated to the cyber dust bin. And while we’re at it, let’s not forget billionaire Elon Musk who purchased Twitter and changed it to X.com. While professing that his style of management would be a radical departure from those who give their imprimatur to censorship in all its forms, the tragic reality is that the same methods of the previous Twitter administration are still in effect and freedom of speech, thought and expression is severely curtailed.
The current CEO of X.com is Linda Yaccarino who jumped on board in June 2023, after previously serving as the advertising chief at NBCUniversal, where she reported to Nick Pickles, X’s current head of global government affairs.
During a House Judiciary Committee hearing, @benshapiro calls out House Judiciary Committee members, Rep. Adam Schiff, Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Rep. Hank Johnson for pushing companies to censor free speech. pic.twitter.com/xiuSA1K6x7
— Tom Olohan (@tolohan) July 10, 2024
In January 2024, she defended Musk at CES, saying that hate speech is an issue that all platforms face. She also noted that X had removed over 780,000 pieces of content and suspended more than 800,000 accounts in response to the war in Gaza. However, some have criticized Yaccarino’s ability to succeed, noting that Musk’s presence may be a hindrance.
Moreover, Adam Mosseri, the CEO of Instagram must also be taken to task for the trajectory of censorship that his platform is scrupulously following.
These CEOs and others must be put on notice that users will no longer accept arbitrary banning, silencing and shadow banning. These politically driven anachronistic methods will no longer be tolerated as the people rise up with a palpable indignance.
The time is long overdue for a clear, bold and relentless response to such grievous violations. Not to speak out would constitute a moral outrage and a submission to the draconian dictates of an ideology that seeks to rob us of all freedoms and transform us into slaves of the state.
We urge you to speak out for the rights of The Jewish Voice to promulgate the truth in an ever increasingly mendacious world. Now, before it is too late, we must rise up from our collective slumber and apathy and protect the rights that we have previously waged wars for and died for.
