Tucker Carlson: Google a Bigger Threat to Liberty Than Big Government

Following the stunning news on Tuesday that Google had demonetized (or at least threatened to demonetize) two popular conservative websites for “problems” originating from both their published content and their comment sections, Fox News host Tucker Carlson lit into the tech giant, labeling them an unprecedented threat to American liberty and free speech.

“Most media companies are dependent on Google, who will control 70 percent of all online advertising,” Carlson explained. “So if you’re in the news business, you obey Google. When Google tells you to do something, you do it. You have no choice.

“They can bankrupt you in a minute and they will,” he continued. “In all of human history, no single entity is ever had more control over information than Google does right now. So if you’re worried about the concentration of power in the hands of a few unaccountable actors, and you very much should be, nobody has more unchecked power than Google does.”

Google took steps on Tuesday to ban ZeroHedge.com from profiting from their ad network and they warned The Federalist than they would meet the same fate if they did not “address issues on their site related to the comments section.” As grotesque as that news was, it was only compounded by the revelation that NBC News apparently worked to snitch on The Federalist, demanding that Google take action against content that didn’t fit the Black Lives Matter agenda.

“Google says it now holds conservative websites responsible for the comments of their readers,” Carlson said. “And yet, irony of ironies, thanks to a special carve-out Google has received from the United States Congress —  something called Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, remember that — Google itself is not responsible for content on its platform because the Congress says it doesn’t have to be. So if you’re slandered by someone, for example, and that slander passes through Google’s servers, you cannot sue Google over it. Google is immune from the consequences. Immunity is a very nice thing to have.”

Carlson said it is incumbent on Congress to repeal Section 230 and allow litigants to sue Google for content that passes through its search engine. After all, if Google isn’t going to extend the same protections to other websites, why should they benefit from that immunity themselves?

“It’s been clear for a very long time that the Big Tech monopolies have now surpassed the federal government as the chief threat to our liberties,” Carlson said. “Google is acting directly to shape what people can say and what they’re allowed to speak. It’s a direct effort to stifle free speech.”