Multiple news outlets reported today that new evidence has emerged that the Biden Administration suppressed anti-vaccination books during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to emails released Monday, February 5th, by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the White House ordered the retail site to censor books that they cited as being “propaganda” and “misinformation.”
Shrouded in Controversy
The information was also obtained by the Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, which reported that former White House senior advisor for the COVID-19 effort, Andrew Slavitt, stated, “Who can we talk to about the high levels of propaganda and misinformation and disinformation of [sic] Amazon?” This is a bipartisan committee that was formed in January 2023 and shrouded in controversy even prior to its formation. Upon its creation last year, Jordan defended it, saying
We have a duty to get into these agencies and look at how they have been weaponized to go against the very people they’re supposed to represent, how they have infringed on First Amendment liberties of the American people. And we’re going to do that.
Rep. Jim Jordan via New York Post
First Amendment Rights At Risk
Regardless of political affiliation, it is difficult to view the White House’s successful venture to suppress the promotion and sale of books that didn’t align with their agenda as anything but an attack on First Amendment Rights. No matter the views expressed in the books for sale, be they pro-vaccination or anti-vaccination, the primary issue of the matter is the government’s willingness to subdue information.
As citizens of the United States, the production, consumption, and consideration of any type of material is protected under the First Amendment. Just as with the controversial book bans happening throughout the country, the government should have no right to tell its citizens what they can and cannot read or tell corporations such as Amazon what they can and cannot sell.
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