• Login
  • Register
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result

“Censorship Killed Millions. Free Speech Saves Lives”: Celebrating the Return of Dissenting Voices to Twitter

by Sean Flanagan
7 January 2023 9:00 AM

Voltaire, the clearest of Enlightenment thinkers, wrote in 1765: “Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.”

250 odd years later, these words resonate possibly louder now than they did then. Controlling ‘the Narrative’ via propaganda and suppression of dissent has always been central to enacting tyrannical measures, but never before have those in power had at their disposal such potent levers of ubiquitous modern technology and communication to enforce global censorship. As the world begins to wake up to the devastating effects of the past three years surrounding the emergence of COVID-19 and the response measures enacted by our governments, it is now beyond doubt that this censorship has cost the lives and livelihoods of millions of people across the globe.

The harms that resulted because debate around the Government’s disastrous response was shut down are legion – increased poverty, lower education achievement, loss of employment, closure of small businesses and deaths from other diseases to name a few. Most of this was, and is, entirely predictable and the potential harms were highlighted from the beginning by concerned experts across many disciplines, including numerous highly credentialed doctors and scientists. It is hard to know where to start with the examples of deliberate, coordinated attacks on medical experts who were merely expressing opinions on what they were witnessing in their hospitals, based on what they had been taught, or how they were successfully treating Covid patients. But perhaps one of the first and most blatant blows to the pursuit of truth came in the collusion of Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Francis Collins, Sir Jeremy Farrar, Sir Patrick Vallance, Sir Chris Whitty and their cohort to squash dissenting views on lockdowns and smear the authors of the Great Barrington Declaration (GBD) as “fringe epidemiologists”.

In an email to Fauci about the GBD, Collins wrote: “There needs to be a quick and devastating published take down of its premises.” The pattern was already set – ad hominem attacks on anyone who contradicted ‘the Narrative’, suppression and censorship across multiple social media platforms and perhaps most sinister of all, threats of professional tribunals and the removal of credentials and licences to practise medicine. By making examples of those brave enough to speak up, a culture of fear and censorship has muted the very people that you would expect to speak up for their patients.

The weaponisation of fear was allowed to go into overdrive when these same individuals and organisations dismissed and buried the emergence of information regarding very successful early treatment protocols from doctors treating patients earlier in 2019 and the first quarter of 2020, with what they saw (as they were taught) in front of them in symptomatic patients. Instead of trying to allay the public’s fears, medics, scientists, academics and others were discouraged from and even threatened for entertaining the possibility that generic medicines with impeccable safety records could be used in sequence to successfully treat the symptoms of COVID-19. With hands tied, mouths gagged and principles firmly pushed aside, doctors were instructed by those in authority to send their patients home with no treatment protocol and tell them, in not so many words, only to come back when their lips turned blue from lack of oxygen.

In the place of what was commonly understood to be the ‘scientific method’ – fully open and transparent, always challenging at the edges – came an industry of ‘fact checkers’ deployed by media organisations and social media platforms. This gave rise to the absurdity of an army of generally under-qualified and anonymous employees making pronouncements on the veracity of the claims of professors, Noble prize winners and other highly qualified and questioning people. Big Tech companies cloaked themselves with a thin illusion of impartiality when in reality Government agencies were directing policy and decisions behind the scenes. Here again the manipulation of discourse was ensured by the introduction of a whole new vocabulary of ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’. Pejorative terms designed to stop debate in its tracks – ‘conspiracy theorist’, ‘anti-vaxxer’, ‘Covidiot’ – made frequent appearances in the mainstream media and by force of repetition helped suppress the appetite of the public at large to dare to engage in any independent critical thought of their own.

Yet in the past few weeks many of these fearless medics and scientists have once again found themselves able to engage in the public conversation. What changed?

The acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk has thrown a spanner in the works of those who endorse censorship to reinforce ‘the Narrative’. Using his business smarts, Mr. Musk is doing a full audit of his new company and sharing the results with the rest of the world. Exposing the shenanigans of the previous management (‘Twitter 1.0’) both draws a line under the corruption that took place and sets the direction of travel towards ensuring that Twitter becomes a trusted platform and, to quote Mr. Musk, the “town square” for open debate, information, networking and commerce (‘Twitter 2.0’).

Having had a chance to look under the bonnet of Twitter, Elon Musk said:

Almost every conspiracy theory that people had about Twitter turned out to be true. Is there a conspiracy theory about Twitter that didn’t turn out to be true? So far, they’ve all turned out to be true. And if not, more true than people thought.

Government collusion via the FBI and other agencies can no longer be denied. Money has been exchanged between Government agencies and Big Tech to selectively dial down or dial up voices on social media in support of the current political narrative. If this is true for Twitter, we can likely extrapolate across all Big Tech companies, while mainstream media are known to receive multi-year Government advertising contracts for hundreds of millions of dollars, compromising their ability to operate in the best interests of their users.

To celebrate the restoration of previously censored accounts and the renewal of free speech online, on Sunday January 8th 2023 at 3pm EST USA, 8pm London, we will be hosting a Twitter Spaces event: “Censorship Killed Millions. Free Speech Saves Lives.” Join us to hear the censorship stories of several public figures, including Dr. Robert Malone, Dr. Ryan Cole, Steve Kirsch, Prof. Thomas Borody, Dr. Sabine Hazan, Dr. Jackie Stone, Dr. Richard Urso and more.

Tags: CensorshipCOVID-19DissentFree SpeechLockdownLockdown ScepticsPropagandaThe ScienceTwitterTwitter 1.0

Donate

We depend on your donations to keep this site going. Please give what you can.

Donate Today

Comment on this Article

You’ll need to set up an account to comment if you don’t already have one. We ask for a minimum donation of £5 if you'd like to make a comment or post in our Forums.

Sign Up
Previous Post

Electric Cars “Perpetuate Racism” – Guardian

Next Post

Sargon vs Hitchens: This Year’s First Epic Twitter Debate 

Subscribe
Login
Notify of
Please log in to comment

To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.

Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.

18 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
rms
rms
2 years ago

Typo: Is the Twitter Event “Saturday, Jan 8th” (as stated above, or on Saturday Jan 7th or Sunday Jan 8th”?

The Twitter link says “tomorrow” which as of this writing is Sunday Jan 8th.

Last edited 2 years ago by rms
16
0
Castorp
Castorp
2 years ago

Very well articulated, thank you.

Please correct typo – ‘Noble prize winners’

31
0
TJN
TJN
2 years ago

It is perfectly clear that we need a Nuremberg II set of trials of those accused of these horrendous Crimes Against Humanity – worse crimes outside of actual wartime atrocities are hard to imagine.

But there’s a limit to what any such investigations and trials can achieve. The fact is, the vast majority of people willingly and even enthusiastically went along with this narrative, even though it was patently absurd from the outset. Are they to be put on trial too?

The Great Barrington Declaration actually came comparatively late in the late as regards suppression of arguments. In the early days (e.g. March 2020) anyone questioning the narrative was accused of being callously selfish, of ‘just wanting people to die’, and even of being a murderer.

When so many people are just so gullible – led like dumb asses, their stupidity being their rings through the nose – what hope is there for our society?

Sorry, much as I detest the perpetrators of this shitshow, what hope is there when so many people in our society have actively abandoned the ideas and principles which a minority of the rest of us regard as fundamental to life itself?

85
-1
Lancer
Lancer
2 years ago
Reply to  TJN

That is the mass formation I guess. Until established wrongdoings have been widely admitted and accepted, that point where a critical mass changes the perception that crimes have been committed, we can’t move on with any principles. That limit of where do we draw that line even within the ‘only following orders’ precedent? Who can we fault for being under the propagandised mass formation psychosis? I haven’t the answers and I’m neither equipped intellectually nor qualified to make those decisions but I would’ve thought in a general consensus those who were given responsibility and didn’t act in good faith when they knew of obvious inconsistencies within their profession and said nothing, they need to at least argue their case and then potentially be held accountable in some respect. Others that might miss that threshold are only to live with their decisions once the dust settles for us all to be able to move on and never make the same mistakes again.

17
-1
TJN
TJN
2 years ago
Reply to  Lancer

Interesting where the line should be drawn between the culpable and merely stupid. My feeling is it has to be pretty high up the food chain, or otherwise we couldn’t afford the jails.

Most of the minions – the useful idiots – should be left to live their lives quietly, with the more reflective among them aware that they’d been put to a test and failed.

I’m clear on one thing though: lessons have to be irrevocably learned, and that means facing up to what we’ve done and going through the concomitant pain.

15
0
rocky44
rocky44
2 years ago
Reply to  TJN

The scariest thing for me in this whole debacle was seeing so many people I knew to be intelligent and open-minded swallowing the propaganda whole, without the slightest attempt at critical analysis. Glib parallels with the 1930s easily come to mind, and we are now seeing this same scenario played out over the climate ‘crisis’ and the war in Ukraine.

In the quote variously attributed to Hitler and Goebbels “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it” it seems the word ‘eventually’ may be redundant. This strategy worked for the powers that be from day 1 of the pandemic.

34
0
7941MHKB
7941MHKB
2 years ago
Reply to  TJN

I don’t think most people would accept that the burden of guilt and appropriate punishment between Hermann Göring on one hand and some German youth put into a uniform and given a rifle in 1945, were quite equivalent.

Those who headed up this disaster with relish (for example Professor Pantsdown Ferguson of “reaised we could get away with it” fame. But also whoever appointed him despite the fact that he had a long record of absolute incompetence. Or Fauci. Those people must go on trial.

25
0
huxleypiggles
huxleypiggles
2 years ago

To the author:

I believe the twitter account of ‘TCW – Defending Freedom’ is still closed, could you perhaps exert some pressure to have the account unlocked?

36
-1
Dr G
Dr G
2 years ago

I frequently test the waters by asking friends, family, other doctors, if they have heard of the Great Barrington Declaration, the WEF, Klaus Schwab, etc.
I am yet to meet anyone who has heard of these, other than my few red-pilled friends.
Despite Twitter opening up, most social media and all MSM merrily continue the censorship leaving the vast majority of the populace blissfully ignorant of what’s really happening in the world.

27
0
7941MHKB
7941MHKB
2 years ago
Reply to  Dr G

That’s perfectly true.
Many, quite intelligent people are quite prepared themselves to accept that things here in 2023 are obviously seriously amiss. Some have crackpot theories about what should be done ( often involving slime like Kneel Starmer), but very few are willing, or perhaps able, to look deeply into what is going on.

Obviously, not a new phenomenon. How many extremely intelligent Jews in early 1938 could see which way the wind was blowing and get the Hell out? Dreadful. Should you just blame them for being unable to control their hope that basic humanity would in the end, save them?

11
0
Gefion
Gefion
2 years ago
Reply to  Dr G

Absolutely true… The times I’ve mentioned some of the above have seen me being called a conspiracy theorist, a fantasist and willing to believe anything I read on the internet. It would seem that, as a reasonably intelligent person, I’ve lost the plot. The conversation is swiftly moved on to something else.

Sadly I seem to have no red-pilled friends but my husband now knows who Klaus Schwab is… He doesn’t believe that the WEF could expect their plans to come to fruition. It’s one of a few elephants that we live with.

11
0
ELH
ELH
2 years ago
Reply to  Gefion

My husband says I believe everything I read – my silent response to him is at least I read… Hs is very well educated and believes and trusts the establishment and doesn’t want to think that anything is amiss, however one of his friends has told him that he believes everyone who has been vaccinated will be dead in 5 years. I said I hoped that wouldn’t be the case…(husband 3 x jabs, terrible headaches with the AZ) so we live with elephants too.

14
0
Gefion
Gefion
2 years ago
Reply to  ELH

I didn’t think I would be alone. My husband is well educated too but reads the MSM and watches BBC News. However, he has also taken to watching GB News recently and has learned a few things from it. We never discuss the vaccinations – he’s had 2 – and he must have heard about the unwanted side-effects of them. His own health has been compromised but it’s explained away by the fact that heart issues are A Thing in his family, The fact that in his case his issues didn’t appear until after his second vaccination is never mentioned.

I have told him about the concern about the vaccines’ effect on fertility and the spike protein appearing to concentrate in ovaries. This is something I find worrying as one of my sons and his wife are planning to have a baby in the near future and the possibility of infertility is something I’m very aware of. However, said son and his wife are vaccinated up to hilt and I’m not an interfering mother-in-law so there’s nothing I can do and certainly nothing that I will say. Another elephant to ignore!

5
0
Corky Ringspot
Corky Ringspot
2 years ago

And now they’re turning their attention to climate change…

10
0
D J
D J
2 years ago

Government used fear and the tool was MINDSPACE practised by psychologists from the benign sounding Nudge Unit.

7
0
varmint
varmint
2 years ago

“Truth”————–A judgement or proposition that is true. A statement in accord with reality. ————-Now who could possibly disagree with “Truth”? —Apparently this happened on a regular basis in places like Twitter to such an extent that statements in accord with reality were often not permitted. ——Are we to assume this state of affairs no longer exists?

0
0
Smudger
Smudger
2 years ago

Well argued article, short and hard hitting. Thanks.

2
0
VAX FREE IanC
VAX FREE IanC
2 years ago

A “Hallelujah!” Feature. Thankyou. I have saved this with all the other features and articles that I have gathered over the last 3 years. A historical record of one of the most infamous periods in human history. And yet it continues. 3 years down the clown road and many STILL believing the propaganda machine. The cork is slowly coming out now….Surely!

When youre dead.jpeg
8
0

NEWSLETTER

View today’s newsletter

To receive our latest news in the form of a daily email, enter your details here:

DONATE

PODCAST

The Sceptic EP.37: David Frost on Starmer’s EU Surrender, James Price on Broken Britain and David Shipley on Lucy Connolly’s Failed Appeal

by Richard Eldred
23 May 2025
8

LISTED ARTICLES

  • Most Read
  • Most Commented
  • Editor’s Picks

News Round-Up

29 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

There Will Be No Climate Catastrophe: MIT Professor Dr Richard Lindzen

29 May 2025
by Hannes Sarv

So Renters WILL Pay the Costs of Net Zero

29 May 2025
by Ben Pile

The Net Zero Agenda’s Continued Collapse Into Chaos

28 May 2025
by Ben Pile

‘Woke’ Rail Company Fails to Mention Women in Free Tampon Scheme

29 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

So Renters WILL Pay the Costs of Net Zero

30

There Will Be No Climate Catastrophe: MIT Professor Dr Richard Lindzen

22

News Round-Up

22

Trump is Handing Africa to the Chinese for the Sake of Social Media Clout

19

‘Woke’ Rail Company Fails to Mention Women in Free Tampon Scheme

13

Trump is Handing Africa to the Chinese for the Sake of Social Media Clout

29 May 2025
by Noah Carl

Hooked on Freedom: Why Medical Autonomy Matters

29 May 2025
by Dr David Bell

So Renters WILL Pay the Costs of Net Zero

29 May 2025
by Ben Pile

The Net Zero Agenda’s Continued Collapse Into Chaos

28 May 2025
by Ben Pile

Alasdair MacIntyre 1929-2025

27 May 2025
by James Alexander

POSTS BY DATE

January 2023
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031  
« Dec   Feb »

SOCIAL LINKS

Free Speech Union

NEWSLETTER

View today’s newsletter

To receive our latest news in the form of a daily email, enter your details here:

POSTS BY DATE

January 2023
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031  
« Dec   Feb »

DONATE

LISTED ARTICLES

  • Most Read
  • Most Commented
  • Editor’s Picks

News Round-Up

29 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

There Will Be No Climate Catastrophe: MIT Professor Dr Richard Lindzen

29 May 2025
by Hannes Sarv

So Renters WILL Pay the Costs of Net Zero

29 May 2025
by Ben Pile

The Net Zero Agenda’s Continued Collapse Into Chaos

28 May 2025
by Ben Pile

‘Woke’ Rail Company Fails to Mention Women in Free Tampon Scheme

29 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

So Renters WILL Pay the Costs of Net Zero

30

There Will Be No Climate Catastrophe: MIT Professor Dr Richard Lindzen

22

News Round-Up

22

Trump is Handing Africa to the Chinese for the Sake of Social Media Clout

19

‘Woke’ Rail Company Fails to Mention Women in Free Tampon Scheme

13

Trump is Handing Africa to the Chinese for the Sake of Social Media Clout

29 May 2025
by Noah Carl

Hooked on Freedom: Why Medical Autonomy Matters

29 May 2025
by Dr David Bell

So Renters WILL Pay the Costs of Net Zero

29 May 2025
by Ben Pile

The Net Zero Agenda’s Continued Collapse Into Chaos

28 May 2025
by Ben Pile

Alasdair MacIntyre 1929-2025

27 May 2025
by James Alexander

SOCIAL LINKS

Free Speech Union
  • Home
  • About us
  • Donate
  • Privacy Policy

Facebook

  • X

Instagram

RSS

Subscribe to our newsletter

© Skeptics Ltd.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In

© Skeptics Ltd.

wpDiscuz
You are going to send email to

Move Comment
Perfecty
Do you wish to receive notifications of new articles?
Notifications preferences