One of the biggest things I've wondered in this new era of social media censorship is how the companies' policies of banning people and repressing the news actually help their bottom line. They are publicly traded companies, after all. They're supposed to try to make a profit for their shareholders. How does shutting down their free "content producers," whether it's President Trump, or Dr. Robert Malone, with all their millions of followers on Twitter and Facebook, actually make money for these tech barons? 

Well, now things are starting to come together. According to the Washington Free Beacon:

Shareholders in Google and YouTube are pressing the tech giants to disclose any requests they have received from the Biden administration to scrub politically "problematic" information from the platforms, according to a copy of a shareholder proposal obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

The National Legal and Policy Center, an ethics watchdog group that holds a voting stake in Google and YouTube's parent corporation Alphabet, submitted the shareholder proposal to the company this week, following a string of controversies over Google and YouTube's removal of videos that question the Biden administration's COVID-19 policies.

The proposed disclosure requirement could shed light on whether the administration has directed tech companies to remove information that it deems misleading, a scenario that raises concerns about government censorship. In July, the White House said it was "in regular touch" with social media platforms to discuss ways to combat "misinformation" online.

The shareholders presumably would have an interest in knowing how this beyond-icky subservience to White House whims on COVID -- an amazing tapestry of every changing messaging colors and policy shapeshifting -- is affecting their shares' bottom lines. We all know that Twitter's stock has largely been in the toilet ever since they started pulling this stuff. Their banning binge on COVID "disinformation" has gotten pretty bad in recent months as we have noted here.

The shareholders, who may be an activist group, but nevertheless, are shareholders, do have a right to ask how that White House kowtowing is affecting these social media baronies' bottom line, because the real issue here is censorship, government censorship, same as the Soviets used to do, same as Castro oligarchs and the crazies running North Korea do, same as the Chicoms, same as the mullahs. 

We already know that Google is laced with a revolving door of Democrat operatives in its top leadership positions, as are many Big Tech companies. The assumption up until now is that these companies have hired these worthless losers as a means of protecting themselves from too much Democrat scrutiny, but now a different picture is appearing: They may well be serving as conduits for the crazy patchwork of shifting policy positions on COVID that are emanating from the White House. That would explain the strange bannings of leading researchers such as Dr. Robert Malone, and the censorship of various medical truth-tellers, as well as those who bring out information on the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin in treating COVID. 

Is the White House behind this? Let's just say that if it smells like a duck...

The shareholders are onto something. If the government is out censoring the press and the right to free speech, it's violating the First Amendment. Would Joe and all his "democracy at stake" minions dream of doing that? Well, he stole an election and opened our borders. What else wouldn't he do, now that his COVID mismanagement is out there, the public is onto him, his polling is tanking and his presidency is falling apart? This sounds like a First Amendment showdown, and maybe an impeachable offense, should Google have to produce the receipts the shareholders are legitimately demanding. Government censorship is tinpot dictator stuff. This one bears more attention.

Image: Screen shot from shareable Google Finance page.