Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., in a Newsmax interview, reiterated that the U.S. government worked with Big Tech to censor voices of dissent and must be held accountable.
Schmitt made his comments during a Monday interview on "Greg Kelly Reports."
The Supreme Court earlier in the day heard oral arguments regarding the case known as Murthy vs. Missouri. The high court agreed to hear the case after a U.S. District Court judge ruled last July that the White House violated free speech by "coercing" or "significantly encouraging" social media platforms to take down dissenting posts about its COVID policies and guidance.
"I think the arguments went fine today," Schmitt said. "The briefing has all been submitted. The record is strong. We won it at the lower court and basically showed that the government coerced Big Tech companies to do their bidding, and they can't engage in censorship, and they can't outsource that censorship to some of the biggest companies in the history of the world either.
"You had the government working with Big Tech to silence voices, voices of dissent, and that's just simply unacceptable in this country. We believe in free expression. We don't think the government can censor, and we don't think, again, that they can outsource that to these Big Tech giants even, and that's what this case is all about.
"When we drafted the Constitution and the First Amendment, which was in the very first amendment to protect individual liberty, we were rebelling against a tyrannical king. This is what we know — that tyrants throughout human history have used emergencies, real or perceived, to aggregate and exercise power that they never should have had. People look back and say, how did that happen? Well, we don't have a pandemic exception in the Constitution. We don't have that. The Constitution is actually meant for hard times, to protect against an overzealous, overreaching government.
"… It would be illegal for the government to censor. They can't have it and do an end run around the Constitution. I will just point out this is not just a one-off of a couple of government officials. This was a leviathan of government agencies. People and agencies working together to suppress millions of posts. We've never seen anything like this before in this country, it's Orwellian. It's breathtaking in scope, and that's why we were successful in the lower courts, and hopefully, we'll be here at the Supreme Court."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
- Find Newsmax channel in your home via cable and satellite systems – More Info Here
- Watch Newsmax+ on your home TV app or smartphone and watch it anywhere! Try it for FREE – See More Here: NewsmaxPlus.com
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.