Ted Nugent has once again railed against large social-media companies that block users from their platforms. The outspoken conservative rocker is an ardent supporter of former U.S. president Donald Trump who was famously suspended from his social accounts in January 2021 over public safety concerns in the wake of the Capitol riot. Nugent repeated his unsubstantiated accusations that tech companies are censoring his speech during Wednesday's (March 9) edition of "The Nightly Nuge", a news-style clip in which Ted offers his take on the news of our world every night. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We believe that even though high tech is something relatively new and advancing constantly, it's the new town square. It's where the First Amendment should exist. It's where free speech and open communication and dialogue and debate should run free. That's the new town square in this electronic high-tech media. But not according to those leftists and the Marxists that run Big Tech. Because the thought that my precious sweetheart, almost like Mother Teresa, wife Shemane has been banned from Twitter is certainly a manifestation of a cultural abandonment, a cultural deprivation that Big Tech now represents. "I had between 25 million and 36 million Facebook reach in 2016, before we got the outsider, the non-politician, the non-status quo guy elected president," he continued. "But once Donald Trump, who was on the fast track to make things much better for America on every level; every policy that Donald Trump implemented made a better quality of life in the United States Of America, and quite honestly all around the world. We could name all those examples, but people who pay attention know what those examples are. And I went from between 25 million and 36 million Facebook reach within a few weeks of the [2016 presidential] election down to three and a half million Facebook [reach]. And right now on my Facebook, I get on every day and talk about every imaginable subject, because nothing is sacred and the First Amendment covers everything, and if I say something, like promoting hunting or promoting marksmanship or our Ted Nugent Kamp For Kids charity, teaching children safe firearms handling and archery and hunting, fishing, trapping, all of a sudden it goes from hundreds of thousands of reach to a few dozen. They probably have a gang of 'fact checkers.' 'Fact checkers' are anything but fact checkers. They're opinionated little dirtbags that crush anything that is uncomfortable to the uncomfortably dumb in Big Tech. "So, again, we the people, we've let this happen," Ted added. "I hear a lot of squawking around the campfires, a lot of squawking around the water cooler, a lot of squawking at the bowling alley, a lot of squawking at the barbecue, a lot of squawking at church and at school and in the workplace. Don't squawk. Call your elected employees and tell them that the First Amendment reigns supreme everywhere, including the 'Zuck world' of Big Tech and their dishonest, anti-American, anti-fact so-called fact checkers. But if we don't speak up, this indecency, this dishonesty, this censorship will continue. Let's raise more hell." Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook have suspended or removed the accounts of prominent conservatives who have violated their terms of service. Trump was banned from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot that he was accused of inciting, adding to claims that conservatives are being unfairly treated. Twitter, along with Facebook and Instagram, pointed to their terms of service, which prohibit inciting violence on their platforms. Defenders of the technology industry have repeatedly said that private companies cannot be forced to host speech they don't agree with. They also argue that private owners should be able to do as they please with their own property. In addition, they note that social media companies can only decide what speech they host and present. Those unsatisfied with their choices can choose to read or contribute elsewhere.
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