It's hypocritical for Big Tech to allow Iranian regime officials to use their platforms to spread "misinformation, violence, antisemitism and homophobia," former ambassador and acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell said in a recent virtual fireside chat with Iranian Americans for Liberty (IAL) Executive Director Bryan Leib, drawing applause from the organization.
"The regime continues to have a variety of social media accounts spewing misinformation, violence, antisemitism, and homophobia," Grenell, who joined Newsmax in December as a national security contributor and executive for international partnerships, told Leib. "It’s unbelievable that Big Tech allows this to happen. This hypocrisy of allowing the hate and terror to be spewed on social media is unacceptable.”
Meanwhile, the regime doesn't allow people in the country to use Google, "but the elite in Iran do have Google," said Grenell.
Grenell also called it "troubling" that big tech companies have policies that allow them to kick people off the platforms over giving misinformation on COVID-19, while the Iranian regime remains able to use the sites.
His comments come after the IAL, on Dec. 30, called on Congress to introduce bipartisan legislation to remove Ayatollah Khamenei and all regime officials from having access to U.S.-based social media platforms.
"We agree with Ambassador Grenell that it’s unacceptable for Big Tech to give an uncensored platform to a regime that doesn't allow their own citizens to exercise their own freedom of speech," Leib said in a statement after his interview with Grenell. "Furthermore, the Iranian regime recently voted against a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly that condemned Holocaust denial."
The regime, he added, was "the only U.N. member nation to vote against this and the only nation to spread Holocaust conspiracy theories on their social media accounts."
Leib further insisted that the IAL is "doubling down" on its call on Congress to introduce and pass legislation to restrict the access of Iranian regime officials "who traffic in lies, spread misinformation, and deny the Holocaust. The time is now for action from U.S. lawmakers."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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