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Biden administration’s hypocrisy on full display with new China censorship task force

By isabelle // 2024-12-18

• The Biden administration formed a task force to monitor Chinese censorship, prompting accusations about hypocrisy given its domestic censorship record.
• The China Censorship Monitor and Action Group includes federal agencies and aims to address censorship affecting U.S. citizens and companies.
• Critics argue the task force is a distraction from the administration’s own censorship of dissent, particularly targeting conservative voices.
• The Global Engagement Center, used for domestic censorship, is being rebranded rather than dismantled, maintaining its controversial functions.
• The new task force is seen as a performative effort to deflect attention from the administration’s domestic failures on free speech.

The Biden administration’s recent announcement of a task force to monitor Chinese censorship of Americans has raised eyebrows, not just for its timing but for its glaring hypocrisy. While the administration claims to be concerned about the suppression of free speech abroad, its own record of silencing dissent at home reveals a troubling double standard. The newly established China Censorship Monitor and Action Group, led by the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and the Director of the National Economic Council, is tasked with overseeing a federal strategy to address censorship efforts by China. The task force includes representatives from a wide array of federal agencies, from the Department of State to the CIA, signaling a coordinated effort to combat what the administration views as a growing threat to American freedoms. The stated goal of the task force is to “monitor and address the effects” of Chinese censorship, whether it is direct or through proxies, on U.S. people or companies operating in China. While this may sound noble, the timing and composition of the task force raise questions about its true intentions. Critics argue that this initiative is less about protecting American speech and more about deflecting attention from the administration’s own troubling history of censorship. The Biden administration’s concern for free speech abroad stands in stark contrast to its actions at home. Over the past few years, the administration has been accused of colluding with Big Tech companies to suppress conservative voices and alternative narratives. Whether through pressure campaigns or behind-the-scenes coordination, the administration has been complicit in the silencing of Americans who dare to challenge its preferred narratives. This hypocrisy is compounded by the administration’s reliance on tools like the Global Engagement Center (GEC), a Department of Homeland Security entity ostensibly created to counter foreign propaganda but which, in practice, became a weapon for domestic censorship. The GEC’s use of third-party organizations to push partisan narratives and suppress dissent has been well-documented, yet the Biden administration has done little to address these abuses.

GEC’s closure may be more of a rebranding

Adding insult to injury, the State Department recently announced plans to shut down the GEC, but critics see this as little more than a rebranding effort. Despite the GEC’s termination, its funding and staff are set to be absorbed by other State Department offices, effectively maintaining the same operations under a different name. This move has been met with skepticism as it appears to be a thinly veiled attempt to continue the GEC’s controversial activities without the scrutiny that comes with its name. The GEC’s history of targeting conservative media and facilitating censorship through third parties raises serious concerns about the Biden administration’s commitment to free speech. By dismantling the GEC while preserving its core functions, the administration is sending a clear message: censorship, when done in the name of political expediency, is acceptable.

A distraction from domestic failures

The creation of the China censorship task force, while ostensibly aimed at protecting American speech, feels more like a distraction than a genuine effort to uphold free expression. At a time when the administration’s domestic policies are under increasing scrutiny, this task force serves as a convenient way to shift the focus away from its own failures. Rather than addressing the real threats to free speech at home, the Biden administration is pointing fingers abroad, all while continuing to suppress dissent within its own borders. This task force is a hollow gesture that does little to address the real threats to free speech. While it may provide a convenient scapegoat for the administration’s domestic failures, it fails to confront the censorship that has become all too common in America under its watch. Until the administration takes meaningful steps to protect free speech at home, its efforts abroad will remain nothing more than a performative exercise in hypocrisy. Sources for this article include: ReclaimTheNet.org WhiteHouse.gov ReclaimTheNet.org

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