The Incentives of Censorship

The dark reality is that cancel culture and censorship from the left has permanently altered our country and culture. The solution is heavier than we want to admit.

On September 23rd, Google admitted what everyone with even a hint of observational objectivity has long known: They censored and deplatformed American citizens at the command and whim of the Biden administration.

This isn’t at all surprising to me because I have eyeballs and I am not ideologically blind to the reality that was staring us in the face. Four years ago, YouTube removed a scientific round-table on what Covid mitigation strategies were appropriate after the release of the Covid vaccine. It was an incredibly tame discussion between Governor DeSantis, Dr Jay Bhattacharya, Dr Scott Atlas, Dr Martin Kulldorff, and Dr Sunetra Gupta in which they made recommendations that, while uncontroversial in many European countries, clashed with the recommendations of the Biden administration.

I responded to this with my standard timidity.

The admission for this obvious thing might seem like a victory of sorts for those of us who have been sharply critical of Google and YouTube for their despicable censorship and cowardice in the face of vindicative political pressure. Some on the right are taking a victory lap for Google’s admission of guilt and sparkly new commitment to public debate.

I do not join them. This is not a victory. This is simply the admission of wrongdoing without any form of punishment for the guilty or restitution for the injured. The Biden administration got exactly what they wanted without consequence. They won and it wasn’t a temporary victory.

This is a strategy that the left has deployed many times now. In a moment favorable to them, they fire, censor, and otherwise destroy their enemies. Then, when the tide turns against them, they say “oopsie, maybe we went too far. Well that’s over now, no need for retribution (which would make you a hypocrite) or restitution (which is really just affirmative action when you think about it). We kicked you down and you need to just stay in the mud while we mouth the words ‘I’m sorry’ with our fingers crossed behind our backs.”

If I seem uncharitable and upset, it’s because this is not the first time I’ve see this pattern play out.