NBC Tries to Get Google to Ban Pro-Life Web Site Because It Opposes BlackLivesMatter

National   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Jun 16, 2020   |   4:22PM   |   Washington, DC

Online media giants are rapidly silencing pro-life and conservative news sources.

And now some mainstream news outlets are getting involved, too.

NBC News reports Google just banned The Federalist, a popular pro-life and conservative news website, from its advertising platform.

Google, which is close to an online monopoly, based its decision on claims that The Federalist ran “racist articles” that defended “white supremacism” and promoted “conspiracy theories” about the Black Lives Matter movement, according to the report.

The Federalist also was faulted for publishing an article criticizing the mainstream media for its failure to cover the extensive looting and violence during the protests, according to the report.

NBC News, a competing news outlet, took partial credit for the ban, noting that its “News Verification Unit” alerted Google about the matter. The accusations were based on a report by the British Center for Countering Digital Hate.

Jordan Schachtel, an investigative journalist and foreign policy analyst who has written for The Federalist and other publications, said this is “journalists” demanding censorship of other journalists.

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“Activist ‘journalists’ over at NBC News got The Federalist, a mainstream conservative publication, blocked from Google ads,” Schachtel wrote on Twitter. “I’m not an outrage guy, but this is absolutely insane. This is 100% a purposeful censorship and deplatform campaign by a legacy press institution.”

But a spokesperson from Google defended its action, claiming The Federalist violated its policies on race.

“We have strict publisher policies that govern the content ads can run on and explicitly prohibit derogatory content that promotes hatred, intolerance, violence or discrimination based on race from monetizing,” the spokesperson said. “When a page or site violates our policies, we take action. In this case, we’ve removed both sites’ ability to monetize with Google.”

Google also banned the conservative site ZeroHedge for similar reasons, according to the report.

Many websites rely on Google ads for revenue, and Schachtel said the ban can be a “death sentence for a publication.”

UPDATE:

Daily Caller writer Chuck Ross expressed similar outrage at the actions of NBC and Google.

“I hate the word ‘chilling,’ but every bit of this is exactly that,” he wrote on Twitter. “NBC effectively got The Federalist kicked off Google Ads by citing a British think tank that was upset that Federalist had an article that noted looting and rioting at Floyd protests.”

Online censorship of pro-life and conservative news and opinions is growing. LifeNews.com also has been a target, as have many leading pro-life organizations. Earlier this month, Students for Life of America said Facebook censored one of its ads about the dangers of abortion drugs, claiming it “may be shocking and scary to viewers.”

LifeNews.com also was censored in May based on a biased fact check that claimed it is “misleading” to call Planned Parenthood an abortion business.

Pro-life and conservative groups, including LifeNews.com, recently formed the Free-Speech Alliance to raise awareness and fight against online censorship, including Facebook’s new “Oversight Board” and the biases of the overseers.

In late May, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to hold social media giants like Facebook and Twitter accountable for censoring pro-life conservatives. The big tech companies have repeatedly subjected leading pro-life groups to substandard treatment, subjecting them to shadowbans, false fact-checks, and prohibiting them from advertising to grow their audiences.

Other recent online censorship incidents include: