Twitter is once again the center of censorship accusations. The social media platform, which poses as a platform for free speech and exchange of ideas appears to be filtering tweets, deciding which messages it wants users to see. According to the National Legal and Policy Center, “The accusation – with proof – came from Lila Rose, president of Live Action, who said on several occasions she has tried to expand messaging to Twitter users via paid advertisements and has been denied. At the same time, she says, Planned Parenthood has boosted its Tweets freely.”
This isn’t the first time Twitter has been accused of censoring material, as told by the National Legal and Policy Center, “Popular blogger Scott Adams, creator of the “Dilbert” comic strip and a Trump supporter, reported in October that many of his more than 110,000 followers told him that Twitter was “shadowbanning” him, which meant that his Tweets did not show up in their newsfeeds.” Also, according to the Christian Post, “The social media platform has also refused to allow the Susan B. Anthony List, a political action committee that works to get pro-life women elected to Congress, to buy ads.”
Twitter has a policy that prevents companies from advertising offensive content, the problem is that what the company considers “offensive” changes depending on which side of an issue it represents. For instance, Planned Parenthood, the nation’s leading abortion provider, often advertises without issue on the social media platform, while Live Action, a leading Pro-Life organization, has been repeatedly blocked from advertising.
According to the Christian Post,
The tweets Twitter has deemed hateful and insensitive are ones that show ultrasound images, fact-check Planned Parenthood’s claims, and discussions of the beauty of prenatal life, Rose said. Twitter particularly took issue with a proposed ad that showed a photo of a baby in the womb with text that read: “I Am Not a Potential Human” at the top and “I Am a Human With Potential” at the bottom.
Not only did Twitter block Live Action from advertising with these “disturbing” tweets. According to Life Site News, “Twitter has blocked the group’s ability to advertise content until all the tweets it deems offensive are deleted. Live Action says these tweets mostly consist of any posts that offend Planned Parenthood.”
In essence, a major social media platform has decided that it’s okay to filter content without the knowledge of users, and that it’s acceptable to bully an organization and censor their content just because they don’t agree with the viewpoint it represents. All opinions should have an equal right to be shared, without a politically charged organization standing in their way. It’s time Twitter stopped discriminating and started allowing users to freely tweet about what they believe in, regardless of the political party or thought group their tweets align with.
