Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., called out companies for silencing conservatives and noted that Newsmax, which was deplatformed last month by DirecTV, "isn't cancel culture's first — or only — target" in an op-ed published by Breitbart on Saturday.
"We are seeing instances play out in every sector where speech is free unless you disagree with the radical left," Tuberville wrote. "Big Tech, corporations, and universities are trampling on traditional American values, all while promoting woke ideologies. There has been a dramatic shift from principled rejections of falsehoods, to partisan restrictions on speech that contradicts the political views of the people in control.
"The most recent instance of this is AT&T and DirecTV removing conservative channel Newsmax from its platforms under the guise of cutting costs," he wrote. "Yet the company has no issues retaining other liberal channels with lower ratings than Newsmax, which calls DirecTV's true motives into question."
DirecTV customers call toll free at 877-763-9762 to complain, demand Newsmax is returned! Oppose censorship – sign The Petition – Click Here
Tuberville continued, "While television companies are private businesses free to make their own decisions, this move is indicative of the broad range of sectors moving to silence conservatives, from media and entertainment, to the government itself. Businesses restricting speech they don't like should concern all Americans."
DirecTV has claimed both Newsmax and OAN were removed as "cost-cutting" measures at the same time the company reported profits last year of $2.7 billion. DirecTV claimed Newsmax was demanding "excessive fees" that would cost them in the "tens of millions" of dollars.
Newsmax has denied these claims, saying it was seeking a fee of about $1 per cable subscriber per year, among the lowest fees asked for in cable, and that total amount of the deal was a fraction of "tens of millions."
"This was never about the fees being excessive," Chris Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax, said. "DirecTV's position has always been that Newsmax — of all cable news channels — should never get any cable fee whatsoever, not one penny. "
DirecTV continues to carry 22 left-leaning news channels, many with much lower ratings than Newsmax. And all of those channels get license fees.
Actions to Take Now
1. DirecTV customers call toll free at 877-763-9762 to complain, demand Newsmax is back on air!
2. Call your congressman or senator at 202-224-3121 and demand they stop AT&T/DirecTV's censorship of NEWSMAX — ask them to give you a date on the hearings!
3. Go to our online petition and get more info: iWantNewsmax.com.