It seems the dumbest thing in the world: An American media outlet openly backing the kind of censorship imposed by authoritarian governments like China. 

But we’re living in strange times, indeed, because one of them — far-Left magazine The Atlantic — is now openly pushing for more speech censorship in the United States, while using the coronavirus pandemic as the reason.

As noted by Breitbart News, The Atlantic isn’t even trying to hide it. In fact, the magazine is quite obvious about it, and, apparently, quite proud.

“As surprising as it may sound, digital surveillance and speech control in the United States already show many similarities to what one finds in authoritarian states such as China,” the magazine reported. 

“Constitutional and cultural differences mean that the private sector, rather than the federal and state governments, currently takes the lead in these practices, which further values and addresses threats different from those in China. But the trend toward greater surveillance and speech control here, and toward the growing involvement of government, is undeniable and likely inexorable,” the magazine continued.

And check this out: “In the great debate of the past two decades about freedom versus control of the network, China was largely right and the United States was largely wrong. Significant monitoring and speech control are inevitable components of a mature and flourishing Internet, and governments must play a large role in these practices to ensure that the internet is compatible with a society’s norms and values,” [emphasis added] the magazine sniffed.

Is this for real? Or has The Atlantic been bought out by the ChiComs? Because let’s remember that the “mature and flourishing Internet” was a U.S. military invention in the first place, and that China — like the rest of the world — merely adopted it after the fact.

Unfortunately, it’s for real. And worse, the article was written by two law professors, one of whom is from Harvard University. 

So now, here we have a couple of law professors who are supposed to be well-versed in the U.S. Constitution (which includes the First Amendment) arguing in favor of a big tech-big / government collaboration to shut down speech and the free exchange of ideas…in America…in an American magazine. 

We are learning what the American Left really is

Our founders wouldn’t just be shocked and perplexed, they’d be angry. And with good cause.

The Communist Chinese government is one of the most authoritarian regimes on the planet today. When the country’s own scientists discovered the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) was getting ready to become the next global pandemic, instead of allowing them to use the wonderous Internet, the government squelched them, threatened them, and threatened anyone else in the country for spreading ‘harmful’ “rumors.”

And let’s not forget the fact that the ChiCom authoritarians hid the number of illnesses and deaths that occurred in their country — intentionally, to mislead, and to allow hundreds of thousands of others to become infected and die.

Yeah, let’s emulate that government, why don’t we?

But wait — if there is to be big tech-big government collusion to stifle ‘harmful’ speech and ideas, who gets to decide what constitutes harmful speech and ideas? 

It’s not going to be a patriot, or Donald Trump, or any of the constitutionalists he’s placed on federal courts, that’s for sure.

“The American left is finally coming out of the Stalinist closet, and not only embracing a big, central government, but also big business in the form of big tech,” Breitbart News’ John Nolte writes. 

“The American left is finally coming out of the Orwellian closet to announce that Slavery is Freedom! Government Censorship is Freedom! Big Business Controlling Speech and Blacklisting Ideas is Freedom!”

Thankfully, because Trump is putting constitutionalists in federal courts this crack-pottery from The Atlantic isn’t going to become a reality anytime soon.

But as Nolte notes, we are learning what the American Left really is, thanks to coronavirus: A bunch of authoritarians-in-waiting who will destroy our founding principles when given the chance.

Sources include:

NaturalNews.com

Breitbart.com

TheAtlantic.com