Ep. 1299 - The Left Targets Social Media -- And The Daily Wire -- For Destruction

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: Ben Shapiro argues that the Biden administration, mainstream media, and social platforms are colluding to narrow Americans’ access to information by redefining “misinformation” and pressuring Facebook to suppress disfavored viewpoints. He frames this as an authoritarian attack on free speech, using COVID/vaccine policy and NPR’s coverage of the Daily Wire as examples of a broader push to restore media gatekeeping.

Main Topics: Government-media-social media collusion (Priority: 5/5): Shapiro claims the White House, legacy media, and tech platforms are working together to limit what information users can see, effectively restoring a pre-internet information monopoly. From 'disinformation' to 'misinformation' (Priority: 5/5): He argues that concerns over foreign disinformation morphed into a vague anti-misinformation regime that can be used to suppress any politically inconvenient content. Biden's 'Facebook is killing people' remarks (Priority: 5/5): He denounces Biden and Jen Psaki for blaming Facebook for vaccine hesitancy, saying the government is wrongly treating a platform as responsible for users’ speech and choices. Media support for censorship (Priority: 4/5): Shapiro criticizes CNN, the New York Times, NPR, and columnist Kara Swisher for backing stronger platform moderation and allegedly seeking to silence conservative outlets. Daily Wire vs. NPR coverage (Priority: 4/5): A major segment responds to an NPR article accusing the Daily Wire of outrage-driven growth; Shapiro argues the piece is really an attempt to justify deplatforming his outlet for being conservative and popular. Vaccines, risk assessment, and public trust (Priority: 4/5): He says vaccine hesitancy is not mainly caused by Facebook, but by government flip-flops, misinformation from officials, and people’s risk calculations, especially given age-based differences in COVID risk. Broader authoritarian warning (Priority: 5/5): The episode expands into a broader warning that if government can pressure platforms to silence COVID skepticism, it can do the same on elections, race, gender, and any contested issue.

Key Arguments: Social media platforms were originally designed to broaden access to information, but are now being pushed by government and media to act as gatekeepers that suppress disfavored ideas. The shift from 'disinformation' to 'misinformation' enables censorship because misinformation is loosely defined and can encompass legitimate debate. Biden’s claim that Facebook is 'killing people' is, in Shapiro’s view, an absurd attempt to justify political pressure on private platforms. Legacy media outlets support censorship because they want to reestablish their monopoly over public discourse and undermine independent conservative media. The Daily Wire’s Facebook success is presented by NPR as a problem, which Shapiro says proves the issue is political bias, not truthfulness. COVID vaccine hesitancy cannot be blamed mainly on Facebook because official messaging has been inconsistent and public trust was weakened by government actions. Shapiro argues that the same censorship framework used for vaccines could easily be extended to elections, race, gender, and other contested issues. He claims conservative media are not seeking to silence others; rather, they are defending pluralism while the left uses institutions to suppress opposition.

Data Points: Facebook/COVID info reach: More than 2 billion people - Facebook says that many people viewed authoritative COVID-19 and vaccine information on the platform. Vaccine finder usage: More than 3.3 million Americans - Facebook says users used its vaccine finder tool to find where and how to get vaccinated. Policygenius savings average: $1,250 per year - Promotional ad claim about average savings on home and auto insurance. ZipRecruiter employer success: 4 out of 5 employers - ZipRecruiter claim that employers get a quality candidate within the first day. ZipRecruiter business users: Over 2.3 million businesses - Ad claim about companies using ZipRecruiter for hiring. Noom completion rate: 80% of users - Ad claim about users finishing the Noom program. Noom goal adherence: Over 60% for at least a year - Ad claim about long-term habit adherence. U.S. vaccination rates by race: Asian 62%, White 47%, Hispanic 39%, Black 34% - Shapiro uses these figures to argue vaccine hesitancy is not simply a Facebook/right-wing phenomenon. New York hospital workers unvaccinated: Nearly one-third - He cites a New York Post report showing a large share of hospital staff remained unvaccinated. Manhattan hospital worker vaccination rate: 76% vaccinated - State data cited in the transcript about hospital staff in Manhattan. Facebook engagement comparison: Daily Wire articles generated more engagement than the New York Times, Washington Post, NBC News, and CNN combined in May - NPR article cited by Shapiro as evidence that the Daily Wire is being targeted for success.

Pivotal Quotes: "They're killing people." — Joe Biden: Shapiro cites Biden’s remark about Facebook as the centerpiece of his criticism of government pressure on social media. "You shouldn't be banned from one platform and not others for providing misinformation out there. So, you should be on from all." — Jen Psaki: Quoted by Shapiro as evidence that the White House wants broad platform-wide enforcement against speech it labels misinformation. "If I was Mark Zuckerberg and I'm worth $100 billion, I don't know. I might go into my pocket a little bit if I can save some lives." — Mika Brzezinski (quoted by Shapiro): Used to illustrate what Shapiro sees as media pressure for Facebook to censor content and take blame for public health outcomes.

Implications: The episode warns listeners that if governments and media normalize pressure campaigns on platforms, the result could be wider censorship across politics, health, and culture. Shapiro urges support for alternative outlets and skepticism toward centralized information control.