Where's Eric Waldo and why is he trying to silence you?!
Where's Eric Waldo and why is he trying to silence you?!
In part one of this series we looked at all of the censorious efforts made by the White House to silence us during the Covid pandemic. Now, let’s move to ANOTHER group: the Office of the Surgeon General
Check it out: 17 times when the Surgeon General and his staff tried to censor your wrongheaded opinions. The judge in the Missouri v. Biden case lays it out. Alternate title: "Where's Eric Waldo and why is he trying to silence you?! "
1/ So Eric Waldo, the Senior Advisor to the Surgeon General, admitted that the Surgeon General's office used its influence to get social media platforms to take stricter actions against health “misinformation”.
2/ On July 15, 2021, Murthy and Psaki joined forces in a press conference where they called for social media platforms to take more action against "misinformation super-spreaders". Waldo talks about using this truly as a “bully pulpit” to push their narrative.
3/ When Waldo was rolling out Facebook relations, things got tense. The White House and the Office of the Surgeon General were attacking Facebook for allowing misinformation to spread. Murthy even told Clegg from Facebook that he wanted more censorship on its platforms!
4/ Guess who they had in mind for external research on misinformation? Renee DiResta from the Stanford Internet Observatory! They even hosted a “rollout event” for Murthy’s July 15, 2021 press conference.
5/ Waldo and the Office of the Surgeon General even got a briefing from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) about the “Disinformation Dozen” who, according to CCDH, were responsible for a significant amount of online misinformation.
6/ Aug 2021. Waldo spilled the beans about his phone calls and communications with Facebook. He even mentioned a call where Murthy spoke to Facebook about misinformation between President Biden’s election and his assuming office.
7/ So, the first meeting between the Office of the Surgeon General and social media platforms was on May 25, 2021, right? Slavitt enters the picture for a sit-down. “[T]hey’re killing people” It's "poison" - from Biden to Murthy to Slavitt they hated you speaking your mind
8/ In response to these meetings, social media platforms complied with the requests of the Office of Surgeon General. They began announcing policies on censoring misinformation, reporting to federal officials, and even endorsing Murthy's call to crack down on "poison".
9/ Back to the July 15th presser, Murthy painted a dramatic picture, calling social media companies "accountable" for results. Waldo admitted in his deposition that the word "accountable" carries with it the threat of consequences.10/ Murthy lays out MORE details for how Socia Media should act: the recommended consequences for spreading misinformation included flagging posts, suppressing information, suspension, and even permanent de-platforming. Quite the control on the flow of information!
11/ Murthy “We’re asking technology companies to operate with great transparency and accountability so that misinformation does not continue to poison our sharing platforms and we knew the government can play an important role, too.” Partners up with censorship groups.
12/ Post Biden's "They're killing people" comment, Facebook began working to create "frictions" to slow the spread of "misinfo". FB produces a presentation: “How We’re Taking Action Against Vaccine Misinformation Superspreaders” - includes WhatsApp censorship
13/ Waldo asked for similar updates from Twitter, Instagram, and Google/YouTube
14/ The Office of the Surgeon General wasn't just engaging with social media platforms - they also collaborated with the Democratic National Committee. A meeting was set up with the DNC's Jiore Craig, who works on misinformation and disinformation issues.
15/ Murthy wasn't shy about his disappointment with Facebook. After a Washington Post article highlighted how much Facebook knew about COVID-19 and vaccine misinformation on their platform, Murthy took to Twitter, expressing his deep disappointment and calling for accountability.
16/ On October 29, 2021, Facebook asked federal officials for a "federal health contract" to dictate what content would be censored on their platforms. They were informed that the CDC was the federal health authority that could dictate what content could be censored as misinfo.
17/ Murthy continued to publicly criticize social media platforms for allowing health misinformation to spread. He repeatedly called for accountability, with his Office even issuing a formal Request for Information in March 2022, seeking details about censorship policies.
All in all, Murthy is a total bureaucrat who likely never read the Constitution and now he and Eric Waldo I hope - will face the consequences.
Honestly, there are no consequences severe enough. What they did was karmically evil. There is only one punishment for evil.
In the age when information is truly power, one must expect these types of people to use that power to whatever ends they envision. Par for the course. Put another shrimp on the barbie. Lather. Rince. Repeat. Spoiler Alert: They will not face any consequences. None. Hell, they might receive Presidential Medals of Freedom!