Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., told Newsmax on Saturday that DirecTV's move in taking Newsmax off of its satellite television service is "absolutely censorship," and a violation of the First Amendment guaranteeing free speech and a free press.
"What has been going on with Twitter and social media prior to Elon Musk buying that, it's obvious, the Twitter files have shown this," Mills told "Saturday Agenda."
"Now the direct attack to try and censor conservative media such as Newsmax and OAN. This is targeted. This is to drive a singular narrative, and it's kind of coincidental that as soon as we take over Twitter and make it a free space, that they now attack the conservative media right behind that.
"So, I think they realized that there was too much balanced media that was going on out there, and they were trying to censor some of that to drive their singular narrative and the propaganda."
DirecTV customers call toll free at 877-763-9762 to cancel/complain
The satellite platform owned by AT&T DirecTV dropped the news network from its 13 million subscriber lineup Jan. 24, several months after dropping One America News in April. AT&T said the move was made for "cost-cutting."
Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy said in a statement the move was strictly political because the company did not like the content on the channel.
"This is a blatant act of political discrimination and censorship against Newsmax," Ruddy said. "The most extreme liberal channels, even with tiny ratings, get fees from AT&T's DirecTV, but Newsmax and [One American News] need to be deplatformed.”
On Thursday a group of Republicans Senators including Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Mike Lee, R-Utah; and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., wrote a letter to the communication companies, saying they were "deeply disturbed" by the move.
"DirecTV's decision follows recent revelations of collusion between Big Tech companies and Democrat officials to label conservative speech as 'misinformation' and censor it," the senators wrote. "The silencing of conservative speech at the request of government officials is a direct assault on free speech and a threat to democracy."
Actions to Take Now
1. DirecTV customers call toll free at 877-763-9762 to cancel/complain.
2. AT&T customers call toll free at 888-855-2338 to cancel/complain for U-verse, cellular and wireless services.
3. 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!
4. Go to our online petition and get more info: iWantNewsmax.com.