We need censorship for hate speech and disinformation, screams every proto-authoritarian. Censorship rarely relates to “hate” or “disinformation,” however. Censors deploy it to control debate and dissent in general, and more specifically to bury criticism of the preferred regime.

Townhall Media readers got an object lesson in this impulse in recent days. Our sister site Townhall published a column last week from congressional candidate Hung Cao that criticized Joe Biden for his policies and actions regarding border security. In his column, Cao recounted his own harrowing childhood experiences as a refugee from Vietnam in 1975, and noted that the Biden administration has lost track of at least 85,000 children over the last two years, and that HHS and Homeland Security could be complicit as “middlemen” for any human trafficking taking place in the catastrophic border crisis. Cao also wrote:

The problem is: the Biden administration has turned the American dream into the American nightmare for so many. Of the many reasons to secure our border, this is the most compelling reason. This was a self-made humanitarian crisis that could have been avoided or significantly reduced if there was a will.

Virtue-signaling leftists will say that we are a country of immigrants and we should have open borders. As a refugee and an immigrant, I share the same hope of freedom and liberty as every person who aspires to come here. …

We have all experienced a long queue some time in our lives and have been angry when a person tries to cut in front of us. This is what illegal immigration is, someone who cuts the line in front of thousands of others who have been waiting for years. It took my family seven years to earn our citizenship, and it was the proudest moment of our lives.

Agree or disagree with Cao’s argument, it is both serious and mainstream when it comes to policies of border security, immigration, and human trafficking. There isn’t a judgmental passage in the entire essay on any group of people save the Biden administration and its allies in Congress. The only hint of heterodoxy from the performative narrative norm these days is Cao’s use of the term “illegal immigrants,” a term that has nothing to do with hatred. It is an accurate description for those who cross our borders without permission, and is in fact a term still on the books in American law and on the USCIS website in reference to “the Immigration Act of 1990 and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) of 1996.”

And yet, as my colleague Katie Pavlich wrote at Townhall, a funny thing happened when this immigrant posted his straightforward and mainstream argument on Facebook. It got blocked from the platform as … wait for it …

When the op-ed was posted on Facebook by Cao, it was flagged as “hate speech” and eliminated from circulation on the platform.

“No one else can see your post. We have these standards because we want everyone to feel safe, respected and welcome. If your content goes against our Community Standards again, your account may be restricted or disabled,” Facebook said when the op-ed was shared by Cao.

Who would have felt unsafe, unrespected, or unwelcome by Cao’s link? Sex traffickers? Coyotes? Cartels exploiting border gaps to flood the US with cheap fentanyl? Alejandro Mayorkas? Well, too bad — and the same goes for those who enter the country illegally and expect a warm welcome. They certainly deserve respect and compassion as people, but so do we, and violating our laws en masse is anything but respectful or safe for anyone involved.

This seems to have started with yet another opaque-funded blacklisting campaign, Katie writes. Last week, Gabe Kaminsky revealed that “a major media investment group” called Group M had placed a raft of conservative media outlets on its ad-block list before the 2020 election, and presumably had maintained it since:

Scoop: Newly leaked data to me from a whistleblower in the ad industry sheds light on how Group M, a major media investment group, blacklisted conservative media outlets and labeled them as "disinformation" or "hate speech" before the 2020 presidential election. pic.twitter.com/FEGs8tQSwV

— Gabe Kaminsky (@gekaminsky) May 5, 2023

Some of Group M clients

Coke, Google, Airbnb, Uber, L'oreal, Ford, Nestle pic.twitter.com/kg0Uzn4wzm

— Gabe Kaminsky (@gekaminsky) May 5, 2023

Townhall’s on that list (for “disinformation”), and I’d be surprised if Hot Air isn’t on it either. This is yet another example and twist on the strategy first revealed by Kaminsky in February by which progressive-funded groups insinuated themselves into position to suppress speech, debate, and dissent online. The US government actively participated in this collusion with corporate America and Big Tech with direct funding of the Global Disinformation Index. This variation uses influence on advertisers — and a clear implicit threat of organized consumer action — to intimidate them from putting ads on websites that feature opinions and news that run counter to the progressive agenda.

The barring of an immigrant’s view of immigration policy is merely the most recent absurdity resulting from the Big Brother Government-Industrial Censorship Complex. It won’t be the last, nor will it be the worst — and it won’t let up until we demolish it or it demolishes us.

This may sound like a broken record, but attempts to quash debate like this is why we developed our VIP/VIP Gold membership programs – to ensure that we can remain independent of mainstream media hostility, Big Tech’s cowardly collaboration with government censors, and periods of advertiser trepidation stoked by activists and extremists. It keeps us free to speak our minds and to bring dissent and debate back to our readers. It also provides exclusive content, such as:

• The Amiable Skeptics featuring Adam Baldwin
• Off the Beaten Path with Larry O’Connor
• The Week in Review with Duane Patterson
• Exclusive columns from Tom Jackson, Duane “Generalissimo” Patterson, and Matt Vespa
• Members-only content from our HotAir team – David Strom, Jazz Shaw, and myself
• Live chats and interactive engagement on all platforms with VIP Gold
• Exclusive access to the comments sections on each post, so that you can join the conversation at HotAir
• And more yet to come!

We talk about this more often now because we see the coming crisis in media more clearly than ever. This week’s refusal by mainstream media to even discuss narrative-defying science on both masks and vaccines demonstrates the depth of the problem. We hope we can gather as many allies as possible to keep all of these issues in the public square – and indeed to preserve the public square at all.

Join us in the fight. Become a HotAir VIP member today and use promo code SAVEAMERICA to receive a 40% discount on your membership.

Thank you, and thank you for standing with us. Because no one can stand alone for long against the Orwellian forces attempting to shut down debate and dissent.

Plus, the latest episode of The Ed Morrissey Show podcast is now up, and as always in the clear! Today’s show features Andrew Malcolm and …

• How did America lose two years of a presidency? Andrew Malcolm discusses the Durham report, including the dirty-trick origins of Operation Crossfire Hurricane.
• Did Barack Obama himself know that the entire allegation was a Hillary Clinton campaign stunt?
• We also discuss the potential disappearance of AM radios from new cars and why that would be very bad indeed.
• Plus, we also take aim at the Protection Racket Media!

The Ed Morrissey Show is now a fully downloadable and streamable show at  Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the TEMS Podcast YouTube channel, and on Rumble and our own in-house portal at the #TEMS page!