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Feb. 6, 2021 - Epoch Times

21:44

Governor: Big Fines Coming Against Big Tech Censorship | Facts Matter

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	Good evening.
	A leaked internal video from inside of Facebook shows Mark Zuckerberg praising the executive orders of Joe Biden while at the same time disparaging President Trump.
	Meanwhile, Steven Crowder, who is the host of Louder with Crowder, has filed a lawsuit against Facebook claiming that they have engaged in unfair competition.
	Fraud, as well as false advertising.
	And you know what?
	He is not the only one who is going after these tech giants.
	Because just yesterday, the governor of Florida, he laid out the consequences that these giant tech companies, such as Facebook, will face for censoring candidates during an election season.
	And while all of this is happening, the top diplomat of the Chinese Communist Party, he came out and he told the Biden administration to play by China's rules and to not cross their red line.
	Now, what does that mean?
	Well, let's go through that together.
	This is your daily Facts Matter update, and I'm your host, Roman, from the Epoch Times.
	Now, let's begin today's discussion by talking about executive orders.
	Lots of executive orders.
	In fact, within his first two weeks in office, Joe Biden has already signed 28 executive orders.
	For comparison's sake, take a look at this chart.
	It compares the number of Biden's executive orders in his first two weeks in office compared to the number of executive orders issued during the first month of the last dozen or so presidents.
	And as you can see, FDR actually holds the record for the most executive orders issued in his first month, sitting at a cool 30.
	However, Joe Biden still has two full weeks to catch up to that, though.
	Now, these record number of executive orders that were issued by Joe Biden are working to reverse the actions that were taken by President Trump across multiple areas, such as by preserving and fortifying the DACA program, strengthening Obamacare, allowing transgender people to serve in the military, and so on.
	And now, while some people are criticizing this large number of executive orders as a circumvention of Congress, particularly in regards to programs like DACA, other people are actually supportive.
	For example, Project Veritas has just released a leaked video from inside of Facebook showing Mark Zuckerberg during a meeting praising some of these executive orders from Joe Biden.
	Take a look.
	In his first day, President Biden already issued a number of executive orders on areas that we as a company really care quite deeply about.
	These were all important and positive steps, and I am looking forward to opportunities where Facebook is going to be able to work together With this new administration on some of their top priorities, starting with the COVID response.
	And furthermore, here's another clip showing Mark Zuckerberg disparaging President Trump.
	That was a violent insurrection.
	It was deeply, deeply disturbing.
	You just can't have a functioning democracy without a peaceful transition of power.
	That's critical.
	And that is why I just think it's so important that our political leaders lead by example, make sure we put the nation first here.
	And what we've seen is that the president has been doing the opposite of that.
	And instead, you know, fanning the flames of those who think that they should turn to violence to overturn the election outcome.
	So yesterday, And we moved quickly to remove the posts by the president that violated our policies, including a video of his in which he expressed support for the people causing the violence.
	Now, the question that you might be asking yourself after watching that is this.
	What exactly is Mark Zuckerberg referring to there?
	Because on January the 6th, President Trump was giving a speech in Washington, D.C., wherein he told his supporters to remain peaceful.
	And in fact, he was still giving that speech.
	He was still literally giving that speech when two miles away, over at the Capitol, protesters turned violent and began to break in.
	And then afterwards, after the protesters had breached the Capitol building, President Trump released several videos on social media, including on Facebook, asking the protesters to leave, to go home, and he condemned the violence.
	However, regardless of what he actually said, Facebook claimed that he was condoning rather than condemning the actions of his supporters.
	And they, of course, then banned him.
	It looks like we've come to a point now where the plain meaning of English words are open to interpretation by the censors over at Big Tech.
	Now, we here at the Epoch Times, we actually reached out to Facebook for comment on the contents of this leaked video, but I've yet to hear back.
	However, on a related note, Stephen Crowder, who is the host of Louder with Crowder, he has just announced that he is suing Facebook over what he is calling unfair competition, fraud, false advertising, and antitrust.
	Now, their lawsuit is actually very interesting.
	It's a very interesting approach.
	I haven't seen it before.
	Here's how their website describes it.
	Facebook lured consumers and creators to spend money and provide data and views under the promise of not engaging in political, racial, or religious bias in enforcing their policies.
	But they have done so both expressly and secretively, and hence the suit.
	The key remedy is injunctive relief.
	To either stop unfair and deceptive acts, we're also seeking seven-figure monetary damages.
	The goal here is forcing honesty and clarity in policy application and enforcement.
	Now, among the examples of this political bias and censorship that Crowder gave was that on November 3rd, their election livestream was cut off in the midst of his coverage.
	Crowder said he was never provided a reason for why the stream was taken down.
	And furthermore, he accused Facebook of reducing the reach of certain pages and favoring certain news outlets over others.
	Which is, by the way, an experience that I can attest to myself.
	Now this lawsuit, for your reference, is in the early stages and it's scheduled to be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
	However, big tech's problems, specifically Facebook's, are not limited to this lawsuit that's over in California.
	Just yesterday, the governor of Florida detailed very strict consequences that big tech companies, like Facebook, as well as Twitter and Google, will face if they interfere with citizens' access to candidates during an election.
	Under this new measure, which is currently working its way through the Florida legislature, tech companies that deplatform a candidate during an election will face a daily fine of $100,000 per day until that candidate's access to the platform is restored.
	Furthermore, if a tech company promotes one candidate over another, the value of that free promotion must be recorded as a political campaign contribution, and that'll be enforced by the Florida Elections Commission.
	And if either of these provisions are violated, this new bill will also empower the Florida Attorney General to bring action against the big tech companies under Florida's Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
	If you'd like to understand the rationale behind this new law, by the way, here's a short clip where the Florida governor explains his thinking to a reporter.
	They mentioned the Hunter Biden.
	Hunter Biden's story was true.
	We now know it was true.
	And the typical corporate media outlets, they just chose to ignore it.
	Obviously, they wanted to beat Trump.
	They had a view on the election.
	They didn't want to give it any air.
	So we rely on social media to go around that, not let corporate legacy media outlets control the discourse and let us speak.
	So you had the New York Post to run it.
	And you couldn't get any traction.
	You couldn't get any reach on it because big tech put their thumb on the scale.
	So that was true.
	What they said at the time, oh, it's a conspiracy or it's based on hacked information.
	Are you kidding me?
	You're trying to tell me if there was hacked information that could damage me, you guys wouldn't print it?
	Give me a break.
	You can whiz on my leg, but don't tell me it's raining.
	You guys would print it every single day if you could.
	And big tech would allow it to proliferate every single day 24-7.
	So it's not being done in a principled basis, and it's not...
	There's threats on me.
	And it only gets taken down if law enforcement goes and tells them to do it.
	Otherwise, it just stays up.
	They're not moderating any of that.
	So they haven't done a good job in it.
	The thumb's always on the scale in one direction.
	And we just need to bring some protection for folks.
	I really, really...
	Worry when you have a business owner that may rely on some of these tools to do small business.
	If they engage in wrong think or they go to the wrong political event, then all of a sudden they can act in concert and just take you off.
	You need to have protection against that.
	Now, if you'd like to read more about this new law out in Florida, about the lawsuit from Steven Crowder, or if you'd like to watch the full leaked video from Project Veritas that came out from Facebook, those links will be in the description box below this video for you to check out.
	And while you're down there looking for those links, you know what to do.
	Fight back against big tech censorship by smashing that like button.
	You already know that videos like this that are talking honestly about what is happening in this world right now, I don't need to tell you that.
	No one needs to tell you that.
	You probably have experienced that for yourself.
	However, when you smash that like button that's below this video, you are forcing the YouTube algorithm to share this video out to potentially thousands of more people, letting the truth be known far and wide.
	Now, by the way, this is a great opportunity for me to tell you a little bit about the sponsor of today's episode, and I'll do so over in the sound room.
	The sponsor of today's episode is AMAC, that's A-M-A-C, and it stands for the Association of Mature American Citizens.
	Now I myself, I'm about 20 years too young to join, but if you or somebody else in your family is 50 years old or over, you should consider joining AMAC. They're basically the conservative alternative To the AARP. And there are about three main benefits to joining.
	The first one is the money saving benefit because they offer discounts to their members on retail shops throughout the US, on restaurants, as well as on things like vitamins, insurance.
	I'll throw a link in the description box below for the full list of the discounts that they offer.
	It's pretty big.
	Then the second thing is that they send their magazine directly to your front door, which is really good.
	Even though I'm not a member, I have read their magazine and it's filled with really good articles.
	And then the third thing, which people say is the most important to them, is that they fight for conservative values on Capitol Hill.
	Basically, they fight back against what they're referring to as the socialist storm that is brewing in America.
	And they fight for that in Washington, D.C., they say, every single day.
	So if you're interested in joining, it's not that expensive.
	It's only $16 per year.
	You can go on over to amac.us forward slash facts matter.
	That's amac.us forward slash facts matter.
	Or you can click on the link in the description box below.
	So again, AMAC, thank you so much for sponsoring our episode.
	And now Roman in the studio, back to you.
	And now let's talk a little bit about Sidney Powell.
	It was just announced a little over a week ago that Sidney Powell has launched a new super PAC. What's it about?
	Well, its name is the Restore the Republic Super PAC, and it is dedicated to a range of goals, including freedom of speech, constitutional rights, and the sacred right of free and fair elections.
	When explaining what prompted her to start the Super PAC, here's what Sidney Powell had to say.
	Americans are starved for truth, restoration of the rule of law, and even handed accountability, and are fed up with government corruption and an elitist political class that views them with condescension and contempt.
	The American people deserve a voice that exposes and rejects the self-interest of political parties, the control of tech giants, and the lies of the fake news.
	Furthermore, she said that the PAC will promote candidates who fight for the truth and the rule of law, and we will strenuously oppose any candidate who discards the Constitution for his own short-term or political gain, regardless of her party.
	Now, if you're interested a little bit more in the details, her new super PAC specifically is what's known as an independent, expenditure-only political action committee.
	And basically, she may receive an unlimited amount of contributions, and she may engage in an unlimited amount of political spending, provided that it does not coordinate directly with any campaigns or any candidates.
	If you'd like to read more about Sidney Powell's new super PAC, that link will be in the description box below this video for you to check out.
	And now let's talk a little bit about China.
	China's top diplomat, basically the equivalent of our Secretary of State, but a little bit more powerful, is a man named Yang Jiechi.
	And three days ago, during a half-hour-long speech, he issued a stern warning to the Biden administration to not cross Beijing's red line.
	So what is he actually referring to?
	Well, here's what he said.
	He also referred to the issues regarding those three regions as being Beijing's internal affairs.
	And furthermore, he also told the United States that it should strictly abide by the one China principle with regards to Taiwan.
	Basically, that we should just continue to pretend that Taiwan, which is by all intents and purposes its own country, is actually a province of the People's Republic of China.
	Now, this statement is very meaningful because over the past four years, the Trump administration has taken a very, very hardline stance on these issues.
	And they have basically confronted China on its human rights violations against Falun Dafa practitioners, Hong Kongers, Muslim minorities, Tibetans, and Uyghurs.
	And they did this by imposing visa restrictions and sanctions against Chinese Communist Party officials who were responsible for the abuse.
	And this hardline stance continued up until the end of that administration, because even less than a month ago, the Trump administration also designated the Chinese Communist persecution of Uyghurs as a genocide, as well as crimes against humanity.
	And so this speech from China's top diplomat, given pretty much at the very moment that one administration switches to another, is basically China saying this.
	Back off.
	Let's just go back to how things were.
	In fact, one senior policy analyst summarized the speech this way.
	Trump bad.
	It's all his, your fault.
	And let's just go back to the 2015 status quo.
	Now, we here at the Epoch Times, we had a great opportunity to have a phone interview with a China affairs commentator who specializes in dissecting the rhetoric of the Chinese Communist Party officials.
	And here's what he said.
	He said that the Chinese regime is using both soft as well as hard tactics to pressure the new administration in the hopes of restarting official talks with the US. He said that this speech, the speech by this top diplomat, was an example of a soft approach, while things like the recent incursions of Chinese jets, Chinese airplanes, into Taiwan's airspace were the hard approach.
	Furthermore, he said that his speech could be read as an indication that the Chinese regime would be willing to make concessions if the United States would promise not to cross the red lines.
	Ultimately, the Chinese regime wants to revert back to a time when human rights and commerce were decoupled from each other during negotiations so that the regime could continue to do business with the United States while ignoring human rights issues.
	Now, here's the big question, though.
	Will this actually work?
	I'm not sure.
	In fact, there was a recent poll that I saw which showed that basically across the political spectrum, both Democrats and Republicans hold a negative view of the Chinese Communist Party.
	And so we'll have to see.
	Only time will tell what the relationship between the U.S. and China will develop into over the next four years.
	If you'd like to read more about this speech given by the Chinese diplomat, that link will be in the description box below this video for you to check out.
	And now let's talk a little bit about what happened over in Burma.
	Three days ago, the Burmese military took over the government in what some are describing as a military coup.
	Now, by the way, in case you don't know, Burma is a country in Southeast Asia, and it was formerly known as Myanmar.
	So how do we know that there was an actual military coup there?
	Well, Burma has a military television station called Mayawadi TV. And on Monday, an announcer came on and made the announcement that the military has taken control of the country for one year.
	Furthermore, according to the Irrawaddy, which is an online news service over in Burma, they reported that the state counselor, who is basically the nation's top leader, as well as the country's president, were both detained.
	And by the way, the state counselor in Burma is a woman named Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for Advancing Democracy in Burma back in 1991, and now she's under house arrest once again.
	That same online news service also reported that members of her party's central executive committee, lawmakers, as well as regional cabinet members have also been taken into custody.
	Now, why did this all happen?
	Well, according to that statement from the military television station, the army said that it detained these officials in response to what they called election fraud.
	They handed the power over to the military chief and are now imposing a state of emergency for a full year based on this election fraud.
	Here's what their statement said.
	The voter lists which were used during the multi-party general election which was held on the 8th of November were found to have huge discrepancies and the Union Election Commission failed to settle this matter.
	Although the sovereignty of the nation must derive from the people, there was terrible fraud in the voter list during the Democratic general election which runs contrary to ensuring a stable democracy.
	The state of emergency is effective nationwide, and the duration of the state of emergency is set for one year, starting from the date this order is announced, in line with Article 417 of the 2008 Constitution.
	Now, although the military alleged that there was massive voter fraud, last week the Burmese Union Election Commission rejected the allegations, saying that the election was actually fair.
	However, obviously the military did not agree.
	Now, as of yesterday, the U.S. has officially designated this military takeover in Burma as a coup, and therefore they are going to cut off all foreign aid to Burma.
	According to a State Department official...
	After careful review of the facts and circumstances, we have assessed that Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma's ruling party, and Wen Mient, the duly elected head of government, were deposed in a military coup on February the 1st.
	Now, by the way, at the moment, it is not possible to get comments from either the state councilor or from the president of Burma, since both phone and internet access have been lost in the city where they are being held, which is also, by the way, Burma's third largest city.
	We'll keep you abreast of any developments as they're going to be coming about in this story, and if you'd like to read more about what is happening over in Burma, those links will be in the description box below this video for you to check out.
	And now lastly, I would like to end our discussion by talking a little bit more about big tech censorship.
	It seems like we started our program with that topic, and it's a fine topic to end on.
	As I already mentioned, on the very same day that President Biden was sworn into office, YouTube made the decision to demonetize our channel.
	We can no longer run any advertising, either before, during, or after our program, and the Super Chat feature has been disabled.
	Basically, they cut off any way that we can monetize our program.
	Now, they did not give us any prior warning or any specific explanation as to why they did this.
	YouTube just willy-nilly did it one day without telling us.
	However, this frankly is not the first time that we were targeted by a major big tech company.
	In fact, about two years ago, Facebook, they also blocked our ability to advertise our newspaper subscriptions on their platform.
	And here's the ironic part.
	Instead of defending press freedom, other media organizations, such as the New York Times and NBC, they have spent considerable time as well as resources in an effort to attack the Epoch Times.
	However, here's the truth.
	When the founders of the Epoch Times, who were, by the way, Chinese Americans who fled Communist China, created this news organization, which was about 21 years ago now, they never expected that this type of censorship would be here in America.
	They were caught really shocked.
	I mean, I think all of us were, frankly.
	However, despite all of this, despite all of this censorship, and even as the print industry has been declining, we here at the Epoch Times, we have actually been able to grow significantly over the last few years.
	And I believe that that's because we have never compromised our editorial integrity.
	We still believe, and we actually really strongly still believe, that the freedom of the press and the importance of the press are the cornerstone of a free society.
	And basically, they're the key for our republic to continue as well as to flourish, because without a free press, without an independent media, how can you know what's going on?
	How can you vote in line with your own best interests unless you're actually told about the facts of what is happening?
	It would be a disaster without a free independent press.
	And that's why, no matter how many times we've gotten attacked, we don't look away when other media organizations do.
	We instead question the established narratives, we examine the facts, and we cover the topics that actually matter.
	And so if you'd like to support independent journalism, consider subscribing to The Epoch Times for just a single dollar.
	I'll throw that link in the description box below this video for you to click on.
	With a digital subscription, you will basically be a premium member of The Epoch Times, and you will have unlimited access to all of our content, including our exclusive videos, our infographics, our investigative reports, and our e-magazines.
	And, in case anything ever happens here on YouTube, you can always watch Facts Matter over on the Epoch Times website.
	And so again, that link will be in the description box below this video, and I hope that you click on it, I hope that you subscribe, and I hope that you join us on this journey.
	And now lastly, if you haven't already, smash that like button for the YouTube algorithm, subscribe to this YouTube channel to get honest news delivered directly into your YouTube feed while you still can, and until next time, I'm your host, Roman from the Epoch Times.

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