Censorship vs. Science: The Fight Over Free Speech That Is Tearing Us Apart

During incoming NIH secretary Dr. Jay Bhattacharya's confirmation hearing this week, he vowed to "establish a culture of respect for free speech in science & scientific dissent at the NIH"; he went on to call dissent "the very essence of science". Dr. Bhattacharya has been one of the most outspoken critics of what he perceives to be censorship and the deliberate muzzling of scientists during Covid. 

Today, we dive into the complex and contentious issue of censorship—one of the biggest drivers of mistrust in public health. Was it justified for the government to pressure social media companies to remove posts about COVID-19 and vaccines that they deemed dangerous misinformation? Or did that cross a line into stifling free speech? 

today, with the Trump administration now overseeing public health, issuing new executive orders aimed at limiting DEI programs, language and studies throughout the federal government. 

Do these actions cross the line into censoring science? Why are we caught in a battle between science and free speech, and how did we get here? And how do we move forward?

To help explore these questions, we’re joined by two individuals from very different backgrounds who emerged as important voices during the pandemic: Wilk Wilkinson, a trucking company manager in Central Minnesota and host of the Derate The Hate podcast who has joined forces with scientists such as Dr Francis Collins and Dr Jay Bhattacharya on various topics; and Dr. Maciej Boni, a biology professor at Temple University and infectious disease epidemiologist who worked on the front lines of various outbreaks, from swine flu, bird flu to Covid-19.

Hosts:

Brinda Adhikari

Tom Johnson

Maggie Bartlett

Dr. Mark Abdelmalek

Guests:

Wilk Wilkinson, Braver Angels leader; Host of Derate the Hate podcast; manager of trucking operations 

Dr. Maciej Boni, professor of biology at Temple University; infectious disease epidemiologist

Sources:

Mark Zuckerberg’s letter to Rep. Jim Jordan

https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/PDFFiles/Mark-Zuckerberg-Letter-on-Govt-Censorship.pdf

Rep. Jim Jordan’s investigation into Biden’s “Censorship Scheme”

https://judiciary.house.gov/media/in-the-news/jim-jordan-launches-misinformation-investigation-uncover-biden-censorship-scheme

Free speech and content moderation

https://www.newsweek.com/covid-censorship-facebook-stretched-first-amendment-free-speech-lawyers-1945595

Supreme Court: Murthy v. Missouri 

https://hms.harvard.edu/news/whats-stake-us-supreme-court-case-misinformation

Supreme Court: Missouri v. Biden 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-censorship-proved-to-be-deadly-social-media-government-pandemic-health-697c32c4

Biden & Social Media 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/16/us/politics/biden-facebook-social-media-covid.html

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