Source: ReclaimTheNet.org
Newly disclosed documents reveal a troubling pattern of clandestine censorship of social media posts by the Australian government at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, with numerous instances targeting legitimate content, in stark contradiction to claims of misinformation.
Many of the 4,000 digital posts discreetly curtailed carried valid information or presented well-reasoned perspectives challenging the Covid-19 countermeasures. These posts offered balanced commentary on issues such as the partial efficacy of vaccines and the adverse impacts of widespread lockdowns and mask mandates.
The unmasking came through the Freedom of Information applications that pointed to certain instances where the government, under the guise of preventing “potentially harmful information,” compelled digital platforms like Instagram to remove posts, The Australian reported.
One such instance was a post from April 2021, stating verifiable facts that “Covid-19 vaccine does not prevent Covid-19 infection or Covid-19 transmission.” In spite of its accuracy, it was deemed as violating Instagram’s community guidelines.
While a significant fraction of the posts culled were indeed entrenched in conspiracy theories and misinformation, many others merely challenged mainstream Covid-19 narratives, delivering insights that now hold water.
A tweet, also from April 2021, drew attention for claiming that Covid-19 originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, and was funded by the US government. This notion, rejected as a conspiracy theory and deemed an offense by Twitter, is now acknowledged by American intelligence agencies as a plausible theory, revealing a disparity between the content flagged and the eventual findings….