{"id":154184,"date":"2023-01-11T15:32:47","date_gmt":"2023-01-11T19:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=154184"},"modified":"2023-01-11T15:34:21","modified_gmt":"2023-01-11T19:34:21","slug":"huge-lawsuit-filed-against-the-corporate-media-for-censoring-vital-covid-related-content","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=154184","title":{"rendered":"<h2><b>HUGE Lawsuit Filed Against the Corporate Media for Censoring Vital Covid-Related Content<\/b><\/h2>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h1>Breaking: Landmark Lawsuit Slaps Legacy Media With Antitrust, First Amendment Claims for Censoring COVID-Related Content<\/h1>\n<h3><em>A lawsuit filed today by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and multiple other plaintiffs, alleges the Trusted News Initiative, a self-described \u201cindustry partnership\u201d launched in March 2020 by several of the world\u2019s largest news organizations, partnered with Big Tech firms to collectively censor online news.<\/em><\/h3>\n<p>By\u00a0 Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-154186\" src=\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/lawsuit-chd-kennedy-antitrust-trusted-news-initiative-feature-800x417-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"417\" srcset=\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/lawsuit-chd-kennedy-antitrust-trusted-news-initiative-feature-800x417-1.jpg 800w, http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/lawsuit-chd-kennedy-antitrust-trusted-news-initiative-feature-800x417-1-300x156.jpg 300w, http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/lawsuit-chd-kennedy-antitrust-trusted-news-initiative-feature-800x417-1-768x400.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>In a live interview this evening on Fox News\u2019 \u201cTucker Carlson Tonight,\u201d Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., chairman and chief litigation counsel for Children\u2019s Health Defense (CHD), announced that he and several other plaintiffs <a href=\"https:\/\/childrenshealthdefense.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/TNI-Complaint-1.10.22.pdf\">filed a groundbreaking novel lawsuit<\/a> making antitrust and constitutional claims against legacy media outlets.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit targets the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/beyondfakenews\/trusted-news-initiative\/\">Trusted News Initiative<\/a> (TNI), a self-described \u201cindustry partnership\u201d launched in March 2020 by several of the world\u2019s largest news organizations, including the BBC, The Associated Press (AP), Reuters and The Washington Post \u2014 all of which are named as defendants in the lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>Filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas-Amarillo Division, the lawsuit alleges these outlets partnered with several <a href=\"https:\/\/childrenshealthdefense.org\/defender_category\/big-tech\/\">Big Tech<\/a> firms to \u201ccollectively censor online news,\u201d including stories about <a href=\"https:\/\/childrenshealthdefense.org\/defender_category\/covid\/\">COVID-19<\/a> and the 2020 U.S. presidential election that were not aligned with official narratives regarding those issues.<\/p>\n<p>Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include CHD, Kennedy, Creative Destruction Media, Trial Site News, Ty and Charlene Bollinger (founders of The Truth About Cancer and The Truth About Vaccines), independent journalist Ben Swann, Erin Elizabeth Finn (publisher of Health Nut News), Jim Hoft (founder of The Gateway Pundit), Dr. Joseph Mercola and Ben Tapper, a chiropractor.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><iframe src=\"https:\/\/boxcast.tv\/view-embed\/bobby-tucker-qwnlhxzjrga5aqzqqd2e\" scrolling=\"auto\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>All of the plaintiffs allege they were censored, banned, de-platformed, shadow banned or otherwise penalized by the Big Tech firms partnering with the TNI, because the views and content they published were deemed \u201cmisinformation\u201d or \u201cdisinformation.\u201d This resulted in a major loss of visibility and revenue for the plaintiffs.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit further alleges that Big Tech firms, having partnered with the TNI, based their decisions on determinations jointly made by TNI, which touted its \u201cearly warning system\u201d by which each partner organization is \u201cwarned\u201d about an individual or outlet that is disseminating purported \u201cmisinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The TNI\u2019s legacy media and Big Tech firms then acted in concert \u2014 described in legal terms as a \u201cgroup boycott\u201d \u2014 to remove such voices and perspectives from their platforms. This forms the basis of the lawsuit\u2019s antitrust and First Amendment claims.<\/p>\n<p>Remarking on the lawsuit, Kennedy told The Defender:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RobertKennedyJr\/status\/1611767691743997952\">My uncle<\/a>, President Kennedy, and my father, the attorney general, sought to prosecute antitrust laws that are still on the nation\u2019s books, with vigor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs private enforcers of those laws, we are confident that the federal court in Texas will vindicate our bedrock freedom to compete with legacy media in the marketplace of ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mary Holland, CHD president and general counsel, told The Defender:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m glad that CHD is bringing this case. We are hopeful we will get a fair hearing, and I\u2019m glad that we are together with other organizations that have also been harmed by these corporate and governmental censorship policies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo have a free society, you have to have free speech, you have to have a diversity of views. We don\u2019t have the same views as all of the other plaintiffs by far \u2026 but we want to protect the marketplace of ideas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf in fact the government and the corporations they collaborate with can engage in censorship and propaganda nonstop, and there are no alternative voices, democracy is dead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Charlene Bollinger similarly remarked on the importance of preserving free speech. She said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis lawsuit is about preserving our free speech rights as Americans and holding those involved in violating antitrust laws accountable, like the TNI.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy husband and I remain steadfast in our commitment to highlighting the well-documented risks of COVID-19 vaccines and the myriad of dangers to those who are not informed by their healthcare providers of the side effects of harsh pharmaceutical treatments for life-threatening illnesses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mercola, in turn, focused on collusion between government agencies and media and Big Tech. He said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese are the twin evils of our day. Platforms partner with the alphabet soup of federal agencies to censor speech. Those same platforms and legacy media outlets conspire to boycott stories that don\u2019t fit an official narrative about COVID and many other topics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur nation\u2019s founding fathers would be appalled and resolute in defense of maintaining an informed citizenry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alleging <a href=\"https:\/\/content.next.westlaw.com\/practical-law\/document\/I03f4d78ceee311e28578f7ccc38dcbee\/Per-Se-Rule?viewType=FullText&amp;transitionType=Default&amp;contextData=(sc.Default)&amp;firstPage=true\">per se<\/a> and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/content.next.westlaw.com\/practical-law\/document\/I03f4d78aeee311e28578f7ccc38dcbee\/Rule-of-Reason?viewType=FullText&amp;transitionType=Default&amp;contextData=(sc.Default)\">rule of reason<\/a>\u201d violations of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/wex\/sherman_antitrust_act\">Sherman Antitrust Act<\/a> on the basis of direct and circumstantial evidence of <a href=\"https:\/\/definitions.uslegal.com\/h\/horizontal-agreement\/\">horizontal agreement<\/a> and economic collusion among the defendants and Big Tech firms, the plaintiffs are requesting a jury trial and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/wex\/treble_damages\">treble damages<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>They also are requesting orders declaring the defendants\u2019 conduct unlawful and enjoining further such actions on their part.<\/p>\n<p><b>TNI viewed organizations reporting non-establishment views as \u2018an existential threat\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit states, \u201cThere are two main categories of TNI members, playing different but often complementary roles in the online news market: (A) large legacy news organizations (hereafter the TNI\u2019s \u2018Legacy News Members\u2019) and (B) Big Tech platform companies (hereafter the TNI\u2019s \u2018Big Tech Members\u2019).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Legacy news organizations are publishers of original news content and include the defendants named in the lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy contrast,\u201d the lawsuit states, \u201cthe TNI\u2019s Big Tech members \u2014 Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Microsoft \u2014 are first and foremost Internet companies, each of which is, owns or controls one or more behemoth Internet platforms, including social media platforms and search engines.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCore partners\u201d of the TNI include the AP, Agence France Press, the BBC, CBC\/Radio-Canada, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the Financial Times, First Draft, Google\/YouTube, The Hindu, The Nation Media Group, Meta, Microsoft, Reuters, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Twitter and The Washington Post.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/childrenshealthdefense.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/TNI-complaint-executive-summary-1.10.23.pdf\">executive summary<\/a> states:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe TNI exists to, in its own words, \u2018choke off\u2019 and \u2018stamp out\u2019 online news reporting that the TNI or any of its members peremptorily deems \u2018misinformation.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTNI members have targeted and suppressed completely accurate online reporting by non-mainstream news publishers concerning both COVID-19 (on matters including treatments, immunity, lab leak, vax injury, and lockdowns\/mandates) and U.S. elections (such as the Hunter Biden laptop story).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit also alleges:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy their own admission, members of the [TNI] have agreed to work together, and have in fact worked together, to exclude from the world\u2019s dominant Internet platforms rival news publishers who engage in reporting that challenges and competes with TNI members\u2019 reporting on certain issues relating to COVID-19 and U.S. politics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile the \u2018Trusted News Initiative\u2019 publicly purports to be a self-appointed \u2018truth police\u2019 extirpating online \u2018misinformation,\u2019 in fact it has suppressed wholly accurate and legitimate reporting in furtherance of the economic self-interest of its members.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to the lawsuit, \u201cthis is an antitrust action,\u201d and specifically, \u201cFederal antitrust law has its own name for this kind of \u2018industry partnership\u2019: it\u2019s called a \u2018group boycott\u2019 and is a <i>per se<\/i> violation of the Sherman Act.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Legal precedent holds that a \u201cgroup boycott\u201d is \u201ca concerted attempt by a group of competitors\u201d to \u201cdisadvantage [other] competitors\u201d by \u201ccut[ting] off access\u201d to a \u201cfacility or market necessary to enable the boycotted firm[s] to compete.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As evidence of this allegation, the lawsuit references multiple public statements by TNI partners, including a March 2022 statement by Jamie Angus, then-senior news controller for BBC News, who explained TNI\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/beyondfakenews\/trusted-news-initiative\/role-of-the-news-leader\">strategy to beat disinformation<\/a>\u201d:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course, the members of the Trusted News Initiative are \u2026 rivals \u2026\u00a0 But in a crisis situation like this, absolutely, organizations have to focus on the things they have in common, rather than \u2026 their commercial \u2026 rivalries. \u2026 [I]t\u2019s important that trusted news providers club together.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause actually the real rivalry now is not between for example the BBC and CNN globally, it\u2019s actually between all trusted news providers and a tidal wave of unchecked [reporting] that\u2019s being piped out mainly through digital platforms . \u2026 That\u2019s the real competition now in the digital media world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course, organizations will always compete against one another for audiences. But the existential threat I think is that overall breakdown in trust, so that trusted news organizations lose in the long term if audiences just abandon the idea of a relationship of trust with news organizations. So actually we\u2019ve got a lot more to hold us together than we have to work in competition with one another.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit alleges the above quote admitting the \u201cexistential threat\u201d members of the TNI believed smaller news organizations posed to their news and informational primacy is evidence of anti-competitive collusion and of TNI members\u2019 economic motivation to stifle this \u201cthreat\u201d: \u201ca paradigmatic antitrust violation \u2026 to cut off from the market upstart rivals threatening their business model.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Angus has since left the BBC to take a position with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-10964951\/BBC-chief-Jamie-Angus-leaves-corporation-job-Saudi-state-TV-channel-Al-Arabiya-News.html\">Saudi Arabia\u2019s state-owned television broadcaster<\/a>, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlaintiffs are among the many victims of the TNI\u2019s agreement and its group boycott,\u201d states the lawsuit. \u201cPlaintiffs are online news publishers who, as a result of the TNI\u2019s group boycott, have been censored, de-monetized, demoted, throttled, shadow-banned, and\/or excluded entirely from platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a result of this \u201cgroup boycott,\u201d the lawsuit states:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe TNI did not only prevent Internet users from making these claims; it shut down online news publishers who simply reported that such claims were being made by potentially credible sources, such as scientists and physicians.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThus TNI members not only suppressed competition in the online news market but deprived the public of important information on matters of the highest public concern.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The plaintiffs referenced Supreme Court precedent \u2014 specifically, a 1945 ruling involving the AP \u2014 to support their First Amendment claims against TNI, noting that contrary to popular belief, First Amendment violations do not exclusively refer to the censorship of speech by the government.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit states that in the 1945 case, <a href=\"https:\/\/supreme.justia.com\/cases\/federal\/us\/326\/1\/\">Associated Press v. United States<\/a>, a news industry partnership (the AP) \u201cprevented non-members from publishing certain stories.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These non-members sued under the Sherman Act, but the AP claimed its actions were protected by the First Amendment.<\/p>\n<p>However, the Supreme Court sided with the plaintiffs. In the majority opinion, Justice Felix Frankfurter wrote that the First Amendment:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2026 rests on the assumption that the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources is essential to the welfare of the public, that a free press is a condition of a free society.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSurely a command that the government itself shall not impede the free flow of ideas does not afford nongovernmental combinations a refuge if they impose restraints upon that constitutionally guaranteed freedom.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFreedom to publish means freedom for all, and not for some. Freedom to publish is guaranteed by the Constitution, but freedom to combine to keep others from publishing is not. Freedom of the press from governmental interference under the First Amendment does not sanction repression of that freedom by private interests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Holland commented on the significance of the Supreme Court precedent, telling The Defender:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe lawsuit is resting on a really strong Supreme Court precedent that basically says whether it is government censorship or it is collusive anti-competitive illegal suppression by the private sector, it\u2019s illegal. You can\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe AP, in its day, was very much a kind of precursor of the TNI, and it\u2019s a very strong decision, very strong language against the Associated Press that was essentially doing the same thing back in the day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Noting the enormous market share held by Big Tech firms such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter, the lawsuit states, \u201cThe TNI\u2019s Big Tech members are \u2018platform gatekeepers\u2019 in the online news market, with the power to cripple or destroy publishers by excluding them from their platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>TNI\u2019s legacy news partners took advantage of their cooperation with each other and with Big Tech, to \u201cchoke off\u201d inconvenient narratives, the plaintiffs allege.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit notes, for instance, that \u201cTNI members agreed in early 2020 that their \u2018ground-breaking collaboration\u2019 would target online news relating to COVID-19 and that TNI members would \u2018work together to \u2026 ensure [that] <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/mediacentre\/2020\/trusted-news-initiative-vaccine-disinformation\">harmful disinformation myths<\/a> are stopped in their tracks\u2019\u201d and \u201cjointly [combat] <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/%E2%80%8Cstory\/tech\/%E2%80%8C2020\/03\/16\/coronavirus-tech-google-microsoft-facebook-misinformation\/5064880002\">fraud and misinformation about the virus<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In July 2020, the lawsuit states, \u201cTNI \u2018extended\u2019 its collaboration to cover so-called \u2018disinformation\u2019 about the United States presidential election,\u201d stating it was \u201ccommitted to a shared early warning system of rapid alerts to combat the spread of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebu.ch\/%E2%80%8Cnews\/2020\/07\/trusted-news-initiative-steps-up-global-fight-against-disinformation-and-targets-us-presidential-election\">disinformation during the U.S. presidential election<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And in 2020 and 2021, according to the lawsuit, the BBC\u2019s Jessica Cecil, then-head of the TNI, made a series of statements, including a claim that TNI was \u201cthe only place in the world where disinformation is discussed in real time\u201d and that its partners sought to find \u201cpractical ways to choke off\u201d stories and topics TNI deemed \u201cmisinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>TNI\u2019s Big Tech partnerships were imperative in these efforts, according to the lawsuit, which included as evidence several public quotes from Cecil. In 2021 for instance, Cecil stated:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe BBC convened partners across the world in an urgent challenge: at times of highest jeopardy, when elections or lives are at stake, we asked, is there a way that the world\u2019s biggest tech platforms from Google, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram to Twitter and Microsoft and major news organisations and others \u2026 can alert each other to the most dangerous false stories, and stop them spreading fast across the internet, preventing them from doing real world harm?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit also noted that Cecil admitted that TNI\u2019s members, at \u201cclosed-door\u201d meetings and in inter-firm communications, \u201csigned up to a clear set of expectations on how to act\u201d regarding such \u201cmisinformation\u201d and \u201cdisinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to Holland, only legacy news organizations are specifically targeted as defendants in this lawsuit, explaining that Big Tech firms typically have \u201cvery serious, very binding arbitration provisions\u201d that require legal challenges against them to be filed in the courts of northern California.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNorthern California is Silicon Valley. It\u2019s their turf,\u201d said Holland. \u201cAnd so, we decided, in order to be able to file in a jurisdiction that we believe will be more neutral on these issues \u2026 we elected to file in Texas just against the legacy media.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Big Tech could still be held liable, Holland said, \u201cbecause the conspiracy between legacy media and Big Tech will incorporate all of them, if there is a conspiracy [found], they\u2019re all liable, not just those who were named as defendants.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1612591912648859649&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fchildrenshealthdefense.org%2Fdefender%2Flawsuit-trusted-news-initiative-antitrust-first-amendment-censoring-covid-content%2F&amp;sessionId=f33d543b1ae26500a440e61bbaa05f11a1e851ad&amp;siteScreenName=ChildrensHD&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=a3525f077c700%3A1667415560940&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1612591912648859649\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>TNI, in concert with Big Tech, censored COVID and 2020 election narratives<\/b><\/p>\n<p>According to the lawsuit, TNI\u2019s legacy news members acted in concert with their Big Tech partners to censor a wide range of non-establishment narratives pertaining to COVID-19 and to the U.S. presidential election of 2020, stating:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTNI members have deemed the following to be \u2018misinformation\u2019 that could not be published on the world\u2019s dominant Internet platforms: (A) reporting that COVID may have originated in a laboratory in Wuhan, China; (B) reporting that the COVID vaccines do not prevent infection; (C) reporting that vaccinated persons can transmit COVID to others; and (D) reporting that compromising emails and videos were found on a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll of the above was and is either true or, at a minimum, well within the ambit of legitimate reporting,\u201d according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe TNI did not only prevent Internet users from making these claims; it shut down online news publishers who simply reported that such claims were being made by potentially credible sources, such as scientists and physicians.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThus,\u201d the lawsuit states, \u201cTNI members not only suppressed competition in the online news market but deprived the public of important information on matters of the highest public concern.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit also alleges TNI members often knowingly removed or otherwise blocked content they knew was not false.<\/p>\n<p>At a March 2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/beyondfakenews\/trusted-news-initiative\/big-tech\/\">TNI presentation<\/a>, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/mediacentre\/2020\/trusted-news-initiative-vaccine-disinformation\">Big Tech\u2019s Part in the Fight<\/a>,\u201d a senior Facebook information moderation officer said \u201cit was a mistake to think of \u2018misinformation\u2019 as consisting solely of \u2018false claims,\u2019 because a great deal of it is \u2018not provably false.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, he \u201cfurther emphasized the importance not only of targeting specific items of misinformation, but of \u2018banning\u2019 the sources thereof,\u201d and stated that \u201cFacebook works together with its \u2018industry partners\u2019 to combat \u2018disinformation.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In emails revealed Jan. 6 as part of an <a href=\"https:\/\/childrenshealthdefense.org\/defender\/white-house-censorship-twitter-rfk-jr\/\">ongoing lawsuit against President Biden<\/a> and members of his administration alleging censorship, a memo by Meta (Facebook\u2019s parent company) revealed efforts to reduce the visibility of CHD content, while a White House email asked for one of Kennedy\u2019s COVID-19-related tweets to be \u201cremoved ASAP.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit contained a comprehensive list of \u201cclaims deemed \u2018misinformation\u2019 by one or more TNI members,\u201d including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims that COVID-19 was manmade.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims that COVID-19 was manufactured or bioengineered.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims that COVID-19 was created by a government or country.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims that \u201ccontradict\u201d WHO or U.S. health officials\u2019 guidance on the treatment, prevention, or transmission of COVID-19.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims about the COVID vaccines that contradict \u201cexpert consensus\u201d from U.S. health authorities or the WHO.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims that Hydroxychloroquine (\u201cHCQ\u201d) is an effective treatment for COVID.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims that Ivermectin (\u201cIVM\u201d) is an effective treatment for COVID.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims that HCQ or IVM is safe to use as a treatment for COVID.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Recommendations of the use of HCQ or IVM against COVID.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims that COVID is no more dangerous to some populations than the seasonal flu.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims that the mortality rate of COVID is for some populations the same or lower than that of the seasonal flu.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims suggesting that the number of deaths caused by COVID is lower than official figures assert.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims that face masks or mask mandates do not prevent the spread of COVID.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims that wearing a face mask can make the wearer sick.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims that COVID vaccines have not been approved.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims that social distancing does not help prevent the spread of COVID.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims that COVID-19 vaccines can kill or seriously harm people.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims that the immunity from getting COVID is more effective than vaccination.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims that the COVID vaccines are not effective in preventing infection.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims that people who have been vaccinated against COVID can still spread the disease to others.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims that the COVID vaccines are toxic or harmful or contain toxic or harmful ingredients.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims that fetal cells were used in the manufacture or production of any of the COVID vaccines.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Claims that a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden was found at a computer repair store in or around October 2020 or that the contents reportedly found on that laptop, including potentially compromising emails, videos, and photographs, were authentic.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cMoreover,\u201d states the lawsuit, TNI members \u201cpublicly declared \u2014 categorically, as if it were established fact \u2014 that the lab-leak hypothesis of COVID\u2019s origins was \u2018false.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit also alleges \u201cTNI members confer and coordinate in making their censorship decisions,\u201d noting that \u201cTNI members\u2019 parallel treatment of prohibited claims further evidences concerted action\u201d by \u201cengaging in strikingly similar viewpoint-based censorship of plausible, legitimate news reporting relating to COVID-19.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, according to the lawsuit, \u201cthe temporal proximity\u201d of these sanctions, including shadow bans and outright suspensions and bans, \u201cplausibly suggests inter-firm communication and concerted action.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit notes that the recently released \u201cTwitter files\u201d provide further indication of such inter-firm communication and coordination, including \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtaibbi\/status\/1606701431956049920\">regular meetings<\/a>\u201d and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/davidzweig\/status\/1607378386338340867\">standing weekly call[s]<\/a>\u201d to \u201cdiscuss censorship policies and decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to the lawsuit, YouTube de-platformed Mercola on Sept. 29, 2021. Mercola learned about this action via a <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/rZT86\">Washington Post article<\/a> published that morning, although YouTube did not inform him of the decision until after the article was published.<\/p>\n<p>In the lawsuit, all plaintiffs allege similar coordinated efforts at censoring their content and their social media accounts and subsequent financial damages due to being de-platformed and sustaining significant reductions to their audience size.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, providing evidence of coordination ranging beyond the TNI\u2019s members and partners, the lawsuit alleges that online payment platforms and processors such as PayPal and Stripe banned multiple plaintiffs, including CHD and Creative Destruction Media, within the same \u201ctemporal proximity\u201d as their social media bans.<\/p>\n<p>As summarized by Holland, TNI acts as \u201ca global media monopoly\u201d:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey couch what they\u2019re doing, their conspiracy to suppress independent media, i.e. the voices of dissent about election information and COVID information, as a \u2018need to preserve the trust of the people\u2019 and \u2018upgrade the trust.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy censoring independent voices, what they\u2019re doing is economic suppression. Antitrust is against trusts, it\u2019s against monopolies, and what the TNI has done is essentially create a global media monopoly in the English language.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/childrenshealthdefense.org\/defender\/lawsuit-trusted-news-initiative-antitrust-first-amendment-censoring-covid-content\/\">https:\/\/childrenshealthdefense.org\/defender\/lawsuit-trusted-news-initiative-antitrust-first-amendment-censoring-covid-content\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-154184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=154184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154184\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=154184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=154184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=154184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}