Justin Trudeau's anti-pipeline law is bad, but it's even worse than what Stephen Harper did, and I'll take you through it to prove it. Ezra Levenant takes you through Bill C-69 and shows you why.
00:26:56.280And what you see is a filtered version of reality.
00:26:59.880And I think the censorship is coming quite quickly.
00:27:01.820In Canada, I think we'll see it faster than in the United States because I think they're going to test out their censorship of right-wing voices in the Canadian federal election in October
00:27:11.680as a prototype for how they're going to deal with the American election in 2020.
00:27:16.620Just a quick anecdote before I introduce our guest today.
00:27:19.480I recently received an email from Twitter announcing a new product.
00:27:23.420It's a censorship product that they're rolling out in Canada to test.
00:27:27.660Well, obviously, that's because of our election.
00:27:29.720It allows politicians like Justin Trudeau, Catherine McKenna, politicians who hate being mocked by people on Twitter,
00:27:36.880and they're mocked all the time, it allows them to silence people from replying to their tweets.
00:27:44.840Not just, I mean, right now, anyone on Twitter can block their ability to see mean things said about them.
00:28:38.200So, yesterday, Senator Ted Cruz shared a hearing with Google on Google and censorship.
00:28:45.280And it's a topic Cruz has been a leader on, I think.
00:28:48.000He was the first senator to come out and say there's a big incompatibility in the law
00:28:53.740in which tech companies are able to claim the legal privileges of neutral platforms in which they get legal immunity from user-generated content,
00:29:03.160while also claiming the rights of a publisher to editorialize and generally act in a non-neutral manner.
00:29:10.740Cruz's argument is that, and I think this is backed up in the law,
00:29:14.580that if you're going to be a neutral platform and claim that special perk that basically renders you immune from any kind of lawsuit related to content hosted on your platform,
00:29:24.460then you need to behave like a neutral platform and not take sides politically.
00:29:30.260So, you know, if the rebel media posted something defamatory, they could get sued for that.
00:29:37.080But if something defamatory is posted on Twitter or Facebook, then they can't be sued because of this law.
00:29:41.900And Cruz's point, and now Josh Hawley's point as well, and multiple Republican senators and congressmen are making this point,
00:29:47.400if you want that special perk from the government, you're going to have to have some obligations attached with it.
00:29:54.420And the most obvious obligation is if you're going to be a neutral platform, you should behave neutrally.
00:29:59.420So that was one of the topics that was brought up in the hearing.
00:30:04.840Senator Cruz also cited my report on the good censor,
00:30:09.340which is a document I obtained and released from Google last year in which the company admits that both Google and YouTube and other tech companies as well
00:30:21.460have all shifted towards censorship over the past two years, two to three years,
00:30:26.940which is an interesting time period because, you know, what happened two to three years ago,
00:30:30.240I wonder what could have kicked off this mass panic, this massive censorship in Silicon Valley,
00:30:36.260maybe some political event that happened two or three years ago, who knows?
00:31:42.780Is Google engaged in, and the terms used, are censorship and moderation?
00:31:47.860And moderation in this context, I understand not to mean being moderate, but rather actively moderating the speech that occurs.
00:31:56.380Is that, in fact, what Google is doing, which is censoring and moderating speech on its platform?
00:32:03.440So, I would not say that we are censoring speech on our platform.
00:32:07.220In fact, there is a dramatic, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, remarkable opportunities for every part of the political spectrum to be able to participate through the online platforms.
00:32:19.440Well, Alan, congratulations on your reporting.
00:32:22.220It's a real feather in your cap to have your scoop color hearings.
00:32:27.940Tell me about one of the other lines of questioning for Google, namely their blacklists for search results.
00:32:38.300You know, it sounds like a paranoid conspiracy theory, but it's actually how they do things.
00:32:43.240Can you tell us a bit about that, and then we'll throw to a clip?
00:32:47.560And, you know, the other thing I'd say about my reporting is that it all relies on these very brave sources in Silicon Valley who come forward and blow the whistle on wrongdoing within their companies.
00:32:58.920And they're taking a huge risk by doing that because Google will, and other tech companies, will fire you with the slightest hint of conservative viewpoints.
00:33:07.080James DeMorme, who isn't even conservative, is a former software engineer who was fired from Google simply for expressing mainstream views about gender and suggesting there needs to be more political diversity at Google.
00:33:20.600So these sources are taking a huge risk by coming forward, but they're doing it anyway because they know there's a whole lot of bias at these companies, and it's having a massive impact on American politics.
00:33:31.820But to return to your question, another key point in the hearing, I think, was when Marsha Blackburn was questioning one of the Google representatives, and the Google representative specifically denied the company uses blacklists.
00:33:48.680He did that twice because Blackburn asked him to repeat it.
00:33:52.160And I don't know how he interprets blacklists, but I reported a few months ago that Google maintains this file called YouTube underscore controversial underscore query underscore blacklist.
00:34:09.060So they have a file with a big list of search terms, and they've called that file a blacklist.
00:34:14.200So I don't know how Google's representative can go before the Senate and say the company doesn't use blacklists.
00:34:19.520Well, if you're a company that's, I don't know, not quite a trillion dollars in market cap, but getting there, I suppose you think you have impunity.
00:34:29.840I mean, what's the government going to do, sue you for lying?
00:34:33.140Here, let's take a quick look at that exchange.
00:34:35.180Has Google ever blacklisted or attempted to blacklist a company, group, individual, or outlet from its advertising partners or its search results for political reasons?
00:36:45.180So something like, you know, misrepresenting what their companies do to Congress is a much lower offense in their eyes than antitrust or competition.
00:36:58.060They know nothing is really going to happen to them, especially when they do so much spending on Capitol Hill with lobbying,
00:37:04.500and they have so many friends in Congress.
00:37:06.620I mean, keep in mind, we're talking about two or three senators, less than a dozen congressmen, who are active criticizing these companies.
00:37:15.900You know, think about all the congressmen who are just totally silent on Google and Facebook.
00:37:19.800Is there even a majority for regulating them in either of the houses?
00:38:29.120Most politicians don't care about free speech, especially in Europe and Canada and also in America.
00:38:34.400I mean, Ted Cruz called that hearing, but the ranking Democrat, Senator Hirono, did a weird thing where she simultaneously claimed censorship doesn't exist on social media, while also demanding that they do more of it and take down objectionable videos.
00:38:48.820So there are plenty of politicians who will use their power to demand more censorship from these companies, not less.
00:38:57.680I tell you, Alan, I know you're based in Washington, D.C.
00:39:01.160Obviously, that's the power capital of the world.
00:39:02.940And I know your eyes are on San Francisco.
00:39:04.900Obviously, that's the tech capital of the world.
00:39:06.640But I ask you to cast a glance north of the 49th parallel from time to time, because up here is their dark laboratory where they are going to test these things out, not only on the tech side, as that Twitter example I just mentioned, but also on the legislation and regulatory side.
00:39:24.300I think in some ways we are as bad as Europe, maybe not as bad as Germany, but we are certainly their lab for what they're going to do to America.
00:39:32.080Last point, because there was a tiny flicker of hope that crossed my Twitter feed the other day.
00:39:37.860Donald Trump himself, he likes a few folks in Silicon Valley, including a very interesting and idiosyncratic tech billionaire named Peter Thiel.
00:39:50.780PayPal, I think he was actually one of the first investors, if I'm not mistaken, in Facebook itself, if memory serves, I think he put in the first, I think he was the first person to put in six figures.
00:40:05.060Thiel was saying that Google should be investigated for treason.
00:40:10.380Let me show you Trump's tweet, and then you can explain.
00:40:14.640Billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel believes Google should be investigated for treason.
00:40:19.380He accuses Google of working with the Chinese government.
00:40:22.400A great and brilliant guy who knows this subject better than anyone.
00:40:26.240The Trump administration will take a look.
00:40:27.940Well, listen, if tweets were laws, we'd have a wall by now, Alam.
00:40:33.920So I've learned to take some of Trump's tweets with a grain of salt.
00:40:37.640But I thought that was a very interesting point by Trump.
00:40:40.420Do you think anything will come of it?
00:40:41.460Well, it was like Thiel made this point in a speech a few days ago, and it was a very powerful speech condemning Google in very, very strong terms.
00:40:52.800So Google executives yesterday denied accusations that the company has been infiltrated by China.
00:40:57.640But, Ezra, I've talked to people inside Google who say that the safeguards they've built to stop the people in China and people linked to the Chinese government from accessing their technology is just totally ineffective.
00:41:11.460So, you know, Google has denied these things before.
00:41:17.360We have to investigate to find out what they're actually doing.
00:41:19.820And we know that they built Dragonfly.
00:41:21.740They were working on this sensitive search app for the Chinese market that was designed to be in line with the demands of the Chinese government.
00:41:29.380So we know that they'll work with the Chinese military.
00:41:34.340They won't work with the U.S. military.
00:41:35.840So I think there's a lot of basis to what Peter Thiel is saying.
00:41:38.620You know, there was a great Canadian tech company when Ottawa was a real hub of technological development, BlackBerry, JDS Uniface.
00:41:48.100There was a lot going on in Canada about 15 years ago.
00:41:52.060And one of the champions of industry was called Nortel.
00:41:56.520And they were destroyed by Chinese hacking.
00:41:58.960And I heard someone try and explain Google and their approach to China by saying Google has decided to sell their censorship and technology to China out the front door rather than to have it stolen from them from the back door.
00:42:18.080I mean, that's basically the choice these companies make, do a Nortel and be destroyed by China or give it to China and hope they pay you.
00:42:40.260And that's one of the big issues of the Trump administration.
00:42:43.240And it's not just about Silicon Valley either.
00:42:46.780Like all the globalists who oppose Trump in finance, in business, the big donors, you know, since the 1990s, they've been told by people who advised them that, you know, China's next big opportunity to invest in China.
00:43:02.000So they've got a vested interest in keeping good relations between China and the U.S., even if China was using all these links to sell us technology that spies us, you know, steal intellectual property, undermine trade, all of this stuff.
00:43:19.020The globalists don't care because they have a lot of potential profit in keeping that market open.
00:43:34.260Well, listen, it's great to get an update from you, a catch-up.
00:43:37.320Sounds like things are interesting in Washington.
00:43:39.520In Canada, I should tell you, not one politician, not even in the Conservative Opposition Party, will even speak out against social media censorship, let alone hold hearings, let alone introduce some legislation.
00:43:54.020It is absolute total submission in this country, Alan.
00:43:59.060So we look to the land of the First Amendment to save us all, and I'm sure you do, too.
00:44:04.180We all can hear your British accent, so you have moved to a freer place than from where you came, and hopefully we can save our freedoms up here.
00:44:17.980Alan Bocari, the most important journalist in the world, in my view, on the most important beat in the world, in my view, namely Silicon Valley oligarchs, billionaires of the left, telling you not only what you can say, but what you can see, hear, and think.