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In yet another case of the all-too-common abuses of power that arise from politicians with too much of it, a little poetic justice is unfolding as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is reportedly being sued after she attempted to coerce Amazon into censoring a book that examines the COVID-19 pandemic.
The book, titled “The Truth About COVID-19” was published by Chelsea Greene Publishing, the plaintiff in the suit. They allege that an official letter penned by Warren and sent to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy in September is an attempt to subvert their First Amendment rights.
In the letter, Warren urged Jassy to suppress the bestseller written by Joseph Mercola and Ronnie Cummins in Amazon’s search results, arguing that it engages in “perpetuating dangerous conspiracies about COVID-19 and false and misleading information about vaccines.”
Chelsea Greene responded by filing a lawsuit that accuses Warren of “violating the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by seeking to stop booksellers from selling and/or promoting” their book. The publishing house cites the Supreme Court case Bantam Books v. Sullivan, in which it was decided that government officials violated the First Amendment by “sending letters to booksellers warning the sale of certain books was potentially unlawful.”
The ruling stated that while private companies can censor speech on their platforms (as is the wont of Facebook and Twitter,) they may not do it on behalf of a government agent, adding that it’s unconstitutional for state officials to pressure a private company to suppress “objectionable” speech.
But Liz Warren can’t be bothered with all that hooey.
According to her letter, a search on Amazon’s website using the keywords “COVID-19” and “vaccine” would list the book at the very top of the search results. Warren called on Amazon to modify its algorithms “so that they no longer do so.”
Chelsea Greene released a statement addressing the matter.
“The term ‘vaccine misinformation,’ as Warren uses it, refers to any speech challenging the safety and efficacy of the COVID vaccines, even when that speech consists of factually accurate information or reasonable and protected opinion,” the statement said. “Plaintiffs allege Warren’s letter contained blatant falsehoods and unsubstantiated accusations about the book and that Warren’s claims, even if correct, would not alter the book’s constitutional protectedness.
“I believe successful treatments for COVID-19 have been suppressed, and there are real conspiracies that have been revealed that are essential to public well-being,” said author Mercola.
Margo Baldwin, Chelsea Green president and publisher, pointed out that suppression of information is indicative of a government flirting with tyranny.
“The government trying to ban books is a very dangerous slippery slope to totalitarianism and cannot be allowed,” said Baldwin. “We’ve been here before in history and we know where it leads: tyranny! First burning books, then banning books, then disappearing books from search results. It’s all the same thing.”
As a result of Warren’s letter, Barnes&Noble, the largest bookseller chain in America, announced it would no longer sell the ebook of “The Truth About COVID-19″ on its digital platforms. They reversed that decision a few days later.
Each day, it seems more and more “conspiracy theories” surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic can no longer qualify as conspiracy theories. Instead, many have become solid hypotheses and, in some cases, open admission of previous falsehoods.
The Federalist wrote that after two years of COVID hysteria – much of which is ongoing depending upon who’s in charge – the “Centers for Disease Control finally admitted that its COVID death and hospitalizations numbers were being inflated, 75 percent of COVID victims had at least four comorbidities, the vaccine doesn’t prevent transmission, and cloth masks were always political theater.”
Fact-checkers at Health Feedback have noted that CDC Director Rochelle Walensky’s comments that 75% of COVID-19 deaths are among those with four comorbidities “applies only to vaccinated people.”
Nefarious information dominance extends to the Executive Branch as well. White House press secretary Jen Psaki revealed in July of 2021 that the Biden regime was essentially in cahoots with Facebook and aiming to “flag problematic posts that spread disinformation.”
Nathan J. Arnold, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said he doesn’t believe that “there is any ‘misinformation’ in the book,” which should not matter anyway if all speech is truly protected by the Constitution.
“I know that the political landscape that we’re all operating in is terribly partisan, but we don’t want unpopular opinions being suppressed by whoever’s in power,” said Arnold. “It really transcends party politics.”
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Frank (Chip) Webster is a musician and composer, former teacher of percussion and U.S. Army Infantry veteran. He holds a degree in English from Arizona State University.
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