How the World’s Biggest Brands Seek to Control Online Speech

WASHINGTON, D.C. โ€“ Today, the House Judiciary Committee released an interim staff report titled, “GARM’s Harm: How the World’s Biggest Brands Seek to Control Online Speech.” This report details how large corporations, advertising agencies, and industry associations through the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and specifically its Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) initiative participated in boycotts and coordinated action to demonetize platforms, podcasts, news outlets, and other content that GARM and its members deem disfavored.
 
Although GARM claims not to impact content moderation policies, or the rules that dictate what content can appear online, the Committeeโ€™s investigation shows that GARMโ€™s efforts are aimed at removing and defunding certain content and voices, including:  

  • GARM directed its members to boycott Twitter after Elon Musk acquired the company. Although Rob Rakowitz, the leader of GARM, denied having done so in his transcribed interview before the Committee, a GARM member documented discussions about the boycott, noting that the company had pulled advertisements from Twitter based on GARM’s recommendations.
     
  • GroupM, a GARM Steer Team member, attempted to pressure Spotify into censoring Joe Rogan due to his views on the COVID-19 vaccine. GroupM even asked Spotify how it could reconcile being a member of GARM with its stance against misinformation and threatened to halt advertising across Spotify if the platform did not take action against Joe Rogan.
     
  • Unilever, a GARM Steer Team member, sought to have a Trump campaign ad flagged as misinformation, aiming to effectively remove the ad from the platform. Facebook, however, maintains a policy of not fact-checking political candidates to ensure Americans can see speech from elected officials and hold them accountable. GARM’s founder criticized this policy of transparency as “honestly reprehensible.”
     
  • GARM documents obtained by the Committee show an anti-conservative bias that permeates GARM’s board of directors, known as its Steer Team. When discussing conservative media outlets such as The Daily WireFox News, and Breitbart, employees from GroupM stated that they hated those outlets’ ideology and even discussed placing these outlets on GroupM’s exclusion lists.

The information uncovered to date regarding WFA and GARM’s collusive conduct in demonetizing disfavored content is alarming. The Committee will continue its investigation into companies involved in this conduct to inform potential legislative reforms.
 
Read the full interim staff report here. Read the report’s appendix here.

###

GARM’s Harm: How the World’s Biggest Brands Seek to Control Online Speech PDF

GARMs-Harm-How-the-Worlds-Biggest-Brands-Seek-to-Control-Online-Speech-7-10-24
The Thinking Conservative
The Thinking Conservativehttps://www.thethinkingconservative.com/
The goal of THE THINKING CONSERVATIVE is to help us educate ourselves on conservative topics of importance to our freedom and our pursuit of happiness. We do this by sharing conservative opinions on all kinds of subjects, from all types of people, and all kinds of media, in a way that will challenge our perceptions and help us to make educated choices.

Columns

How a Chinese Government Statistician Was Forced to Report Fake Data

Chinese local govt employee produced a non-authorized report on bees and was visited by police and threatened with being sent to a mental hospital.

โ€˜This One Time, at Groomer Campโ€™

All Camp Brave Trails programs focus on helping LGBTQ+ youth find what they need most to thrive: their people, their place, and their passion.

Why Recognizing a Palestinian State Now Undermines U.S. Interestsย 

A recent American Conservativeย article suggests President Trump recognize a Palestinian state, but this would undermine the interests of the United States.

Harvardโ€™s China Ties Under Scrutiny as US Targets Student Visas

Following Trump adminโ€™s action to vet Chinese nationals studying in US for ties to the CCP, Harvard's involvement with Beijing has come to the fore.

The Russian-Ukrainian Talks Are At An Impasse That Only The US Or Brute Force Can Break

The second round of Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul resulted in no progress and talks are at an impasse that only the US or brute force can break.

News

Feds Say California Bullet Train Has โ€˜No Viable Path,โ€™ Threaten to Pull $4 Billion

CAโ€™s high-speed rail project is in default of federal grant agreements and may lose more than $4 billion in funding, says the U.S. Dept of Transportation.

Supreme Court Rules 9-0 Wisconsin Violated First Amendment by Denying Tax Exemption to Catholic Charity

Supreme Court ruled unanimously that WI violated the First Amendment by not granting Catholic charity an exemption from paying unemployment tax.

Appeals Court Rules San Diegoโ€™s Yoga Ban Is Unconstitutional

The city of San Diegoโ€™s ban on yoga classes in public parks and beaches was ruled unconstitutional by a federal appeals court.

FDA Not Recommending Newly Approved COVID-19 Vaccine: Official

FDA approved a new COVID-19 vaccine but is not recommending people receive it, the agencyโ€™s top vaccine officials said on June 4.

Self-Sufficiency Summits in Ohio Reflect Surging Interest in Homesteading

After an age of reliance on store-bought items, many Americans are returning to a self-sufficient lifestyle and growing and raising the food they consume.

Judge Requires Trump Admin to Provide Due Process for Deportees in El Salvador Prison

Boasberg ordered Trump admin to provide habeas relief for individuals it deported and are held in Salvadoran maximum security prison.

New Nebraska Law Classifies School Sports Teams by Sex

NE Gov. Pillen signed new law requiring students to play on sports teams based on their sex, allowing women and girls to fairly compete in sports.

Supreme Court Declines to Shield Identities of Police Who Attended Jan. 6 Capitol Rally

U.S. Supreme Court declined to shield identities of police officers fighting a public records request for info about their attendance at Jan. 6 2021 rally.
spot_img

Related Articles