The private sector has "far too much power" in censoring conservative voices and corporations are regulating people in a way that "Congress could never do that would be blatantly illegal," says former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta.
"I think this is also part of a larger trend," Acosta said Friday during an appearance on Newsmax TV's "National Report."
"Congress could not ban the Hunter Biden laptop story, Congress could not ban Newsmax or conservative outlets, but Congress can say we need to stop disinformation and put pressure on the corporate sector to ban and to censor and what we're seeing is that corporations are doing things and regulating our people in a way that that Congress could never do that would be blatantly illegal."
DirecTV customers call toll free at 877-763-9762 to complain, demand Newsmax is returned! Oppose censorship – sign The Petition – Click Here
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.
The platform, a subsidiary of AT&T has claimed Newsmax was demanding "excessive fees" that would cost them in the "tens of millions" of dollars.
"With respect to the Newsmax situation, put simply, this is a typical business dispute that has nothing to do with ideology, politics or censorship — despite unfounded accusations to the contrary by Newsmax, its CEO, its commentators and others," DirectTV told GOP senators Thursday in a response to requests to explain their decision to drop Newsmax.
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 the 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 pays all of those channels' carriage fees.
Newsmax has been alerting its supporters about AT&T's decision through its network, the fourth highest-rated cable news channel, reaching 25 million Americans, according to Nielsen.
Newsmax also reaches more than 40 million Americans through significant online platforms, apps, its social media network, as well as radio and print outlets.
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.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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