Mollie Hemingway, the Editor-in-Chief of The Federalist, has called out Big Tech companies for their extensive censorship practices, which she argues are more damaging than election interference. In a podcast episode of “You’re Wrong” with Senior Editor David Harsanyi, Hemingway highlighted the profound effects of biased algorithms and the suppression of certain viewpoints.
Hemingway stated that the infringement on First Amendment rights by tech giants like Google has far-reaching implications for democracy. She contended that these actions prevent meaningful public discourse, akin to the effects of election interference.
“Violations of First Amendment rights are actually worse than election interference,” Hemingway asserted. “If we don’t have the ability to seek truth and argue for truth, it’s the same thing as election interference where you don’t have the right to pick your own people.”
Hemingway argued that Big Tech’s manipulation of information affects public perception on various issues, including transgender rights. Despite widespread public opinion, media narratives and search engine results often present a skewed view, making mainstream opinions seem marginal.
“It affects the way people think about every issue,” Hemingway remarked. “Polling shows that even the vast majority of Democrats are like ‘No, I don’t believe men should be able to play on girls’ teams,’ yet you watch the media and do the Google search, and everything will be like fed to you like you’re the crazy person.”
She highlighted Google’s practice of burying inconvenient truths deep in search results, making it difficult for users to find diverse perspectives. Hemingway compared this to the difficulty of finding Osama Bin Laden: “Try the 20th page of Google results…where the first page is this left-wing site and that left-wing site.”
The podcast discussion coincides with findings from MRC Free Speech America, which revealed that Google’s search results favored certain political candidates over others. The study found that Google promoted the websites of President Joe Biden and Marianne Williamson, while burying those of Republican candidates Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and Nikki Haley, as well as Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Hemingway’s remarks shed light on the significant influence Big Tech wields over public discourse and the dissemination of information, sparking debate about the implications for free speech and democratic engagement.
