Let us tenderly and kindly cherish, therefore, the means of knowledge. Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write. –John Adams
Anyone paying attention should be aware of the toxic issue of big tech censorship, which seems to have gotten much worse and more brazen over the past few years. As I’ve often tried to explain to my students, “bias can be reflected in what one says (content), how they say it (word choice and tone), and what they don’t say (what is ignored). And the last kind is the hardest to identify, because it’s not there to see.” That’s what makes big tech frustratingly noxious: it’s hard to tell what we’re not being told, because “we don’t know what we don’t know.”
Widely believed to be the worst big tech censors these past few years have been Google (and thus also YouTube, which they own), Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Twitter. (Frankly, since Facebook and Twitter conspired to bury the Hunter Biden “laptop from hell” story just a few days before the key 2020 elections, many see that as election interference, but I digress.)
However, a new front in the “information wars” has opened, with Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter and his stated purpose to protect and foster free speech there. In a sane world, people would honor and respect our Constitution’s First Amendment free speech rights. However, ours is not a very sane world right now. Twitter is not allowing any violent or illegal speech, but otherwise, they are giving a fair platform to most everyone — which is driving the Left bonkers. The White House is even going “full Big Brother” by announcing this week they are “keeping an eye” on all that free speech brewing!
Anyway, the left-wing Media Matters organization recently announced these following corporations that, according to their observations, have either drastically reduced or ended their advertising on Twitter. Those with an asterisk have issued a statement that they are deliberately stopping their advertising. To be fair, most have not issued a statement. Plus, there is no way to prove they are cutting their sponsorships to protest Musk and free expression. Who knows? Maybe it’s a coincidence or the company is just changing their marketing plan.
Still, it seems suspicious that, on the heels of Twitter opening the floodgates of free discourse and conversation, these 50 corporations would hold back their dollars. Despite “wokeness,” much of our economy is still run by capitalism, and when companies stop buying ads, that puts a crimp on the platform. It seems the Left seeks to choke off free speech by bankrupting Twitter.
But capitalism runs both ways. Not only are corporations free to choose where to spend their dollars, so are consumers. Someone said, “each dollar you spend is like a vote. Each time you buy something, you are saying ‘I want to see more of this.'”
If for some reason you love tyranny and speech control and mind control, then the Twitter-haters are for you. However, if you love liberty and the free flow of information, please lend your full support to the free-speech movement and know these corporations below are not your friend. When looking for goods or services, consider alternatives.
Abbott Laboratories
Allstate Corporation
AMC Networks
American Express Company
AT&T
Big Heart Petcare
BlackRock, Inc.
BlueTriton Brands, Inc.
Boston Beer Company
CA Lottery (California State Lottery)
CenturyLink (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
Chanel
Chevrolet*
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.*
Citigroup, Inc.
CNN
Dell
Diageo
DirecTV
Discover Financial Services
Fidelity
First National Realty Partners
Ford*
Heineken N.V.
Hewlett-Packard (HP)
Hilton Worldwide
Inspire Brands, Inc.
Jeep*
Kellogg Company
Kohl’s Department Stores, Inc.
Kyndryl*
LinkedIn Corporation
MailChimp (The Rocket Science Group)
Marriott International, Inc.
Mars Petcare
Mars, Incorporated
Merck & Co. (Merck Sharp & Dohme MSD)*
Meta Platforms, Inc. (formerly Facebook, Inc.)
MoneyWise (Wise Publishing, Inc.)
Nestle
Novartis AG*
Pernod Ricard
PlayPass
The Coca-Cola Company
The Kraft Heinz Company
Tire Rack
Verizon
Wells Fargo
Whole Foods Market IP
Yum! Brands (KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell)
Founding Father and second President John Adams claimed “Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write.”
Let’s support businesses and politicians who support our rights to read, think, speak and write freely, and oppose those who don’t.
–Scott Dreyer
