Sen. Ron Johnson accuses CDC of working with Big Tech to censor speech questioning COVID-19 vaccines
Republican Sen. Ron Johnson @SenRonJohnsonUS of Wisconsin has accused the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of working with Big Tech corporations to censor his social media posts raising legitimate questions about the safety and effectiveness of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines.
In an open letter to CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen sent on Monday, Aug. 28, Johnson, as ranking member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, accused the CDC of coordinating with social media companies to censor posts about COVID-19 vaccines, specifically those referring to data on the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a U.S. government database on the ill effects of vaccines.
"Based on recent information I have received … it is clear that the CDC abused its authority by engaging in a censorship campaign to suppress and discredit certain viewpoints it labeled as 'misinformation,'" wrote Johnson.
As an example, Johnson highlighted a post he made on Twitter on Jan. 3, 2022, about VAERS information that shows the COVID-19 vaccines have caused over one million adverse events and over 21,000 deaths in the United States.
This post was immediately labeled "misleading," with a note explaining that health officials claim the COVID-19 vaccines are "safe for most people."
Johnson demands answers regarding social media censorship efforts
Johnson @SenRonJohnsonUS said the CDC influenced the decision of Big Tech companies like Twitter to label posts about the COVID-19 vaccine as misleading. Johnson noted that he in the past questioned Twitter officials as to why his post had been labeled "misleading" but received no response.
After Elon Musk took over Twitter, Johnson was later told that executive branch officials and the CDC "communicated with social media companies, including Twitter, about 'COVID vaccine misinformation.'"
"The information Twitter provided showed a clear and concerted effort by the CDC to censor those who tweeted about VAERS data," said Johnson. "CDC's campaign to encourage social media companies to suppress CDC's own data appears to be a blatant attempt to mislead the public about adverse events associated with the COVID-19 vaccines."
In his letter, Johnson is demanding that the CDC provide the subcommittee with all of its communications between its employees and the employees of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube regarding 10 individuals, all of whom gained notoriety during the pandemic for expressing alternative views to COVID-19 vaccines, lockdowns and treatments.
These 10 include Johnson himself as well as Brianne Dressen, John Ioannidis, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Pierre Kory, Theresa Long, Robert Malone, Peter McCullough, Harvey Risch and Aaron Siri.
In addition, Johnson @SenRonJohnsonUS is asking for records relating to the CDC's interaction with employees of social media companies, private sector and third-party groups and other federal agencies about COVID-19 misinformation policies and the suppression of online speech.
Finally, the senator is also demanding records about "Be On The Lookout" topics and a list of all social media posts the CDC has flagged as "containing misinformation, disinformation or generally disfavored speech." Johnson has given the CDC until Sept. 11 to comply.
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