July 10, 2024 – House Judiciary Committee finds conservative news sources were targeted by a cartel of advertisers who set out to demonetize and reduce their reach

In Email/Dossier/Govt Corruption Investigations, Featured Timeline Entries by Katie Weddington

Breaking: @Jim_Jordan’s House Judiciary Committee finds @realdailywire, @realDonaldTrump, @joerogan, @elonmusk, @foxnews, @breitbartnews, and more are targeted by a cartel of advertisers controlling 90% of ad dollars to demonetize and reduce their reach. We have the receipts. 🧵

I was already deeply troubled based on what I know of GARM, but I just read @JudiciaryGOP’s report before I’m set to testify before the committee this morning.

It’s even worse than I thought:

“GARM and its members discussed a strategy of blocking certain news outlets like @FoxNews, @realDailyWire, and @BreitbartNews,” the report states, pointing to an email from a top executive associated with the coalition stating that he “hated their ideology and bulls**t.”

 

One of the lead organizations in the coalition, GroupM, the world’s largest media buying agency, admits in emails that The Daily Wire is “on our Global High Risk exclusion list, categorized as Conspiracy Theories.”

The report exposes the bias of Rob Rakowitz, GARM’s leader and co-founder, who in one email complains about people “advocating for freedom of speech online,” and about “extreme global interpretation of the US Constitution,” which Rakowitz says was written “by white men exclusively.”Image

GARM also targeted Twitter/X. The report states that GARM tried to direct all of its members — corporate giants who together account for 90% of global advertising dollars — to “stop all paid advertisement” on the platform after @ElonMusk purchased it. GARM “bragged about” the fact that Twitter was “80% below revenue forecasts” after its effort.

(See thread for additional docs posted.)

GARM also worked to pressure Spotify over @JoeRogan’s podcast, specifically over the host’s claims that young, healthy people didn’t need a COVID vaccine. Rakowitz admits in private emails that threats like the one it made to Spotify “gets us into hot water by way of anticompetitive and collusive behaviors.”

So what incentivizes platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and X to work with GARM? Democrats in Congress and the White House use the tacit threat of government action to compel private companies to throttle disfavored viewpoints. This drives social media companies to partner with GARM – or else.
In 2017, Senator Dianne Feinstein told lawyers at Facebook, Google, and Twitter, “You created these platforms…and now they’re being misused. And you have to be the ones to do something about it – or we will.”
When Rogan said that he had taken Ivermectin after getting COVID, White House press secretary Jen Psaki pressured Spotify to take action, stating, “We want every platform to be doing more to be calling out mis- and dis-information, while also uplifting accurate information.”

Two weeks ago, writing in dissent in Murthy v. Missouri, Justice Alito condemned the weaponization of private companies to engage in censorship – what he called “sophisticated” and “coercive” government campaigns against free speech. These campaigns are ongoing. They are spurred by members of this Congress and this White House. And they must be stopped. (Ben Shapiro/X, 7/10/2024)  (Archive)

Watch my testimony and get live updates here:

The House Judiciary Committee released a damning report Wednesday morning with shocking details of corporate collusion to silence conservative viewpoints through targeting Breitbart News, Joe Rogan, and Twitter (now X) among others.