Topline
Robert F. Kennedy Jr and a band of anti-vaccine activists have filed an antitrust lawsuit against some of the world’s top news media organizations alleging the companies worked with social media platforms to censor publications spreading right-wing conspiracy theories.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. attends the 2019 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Awards at the … [+]
Key Facts
Other TNI members The Washington Post, Reuters and the Associated Press were named as co-defendants.
Plaintiffs including Kennedy and Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine activist group, allege their content has been “censored, demonetized, demoted, throttled, shadow-banned (and) excluded entirely” from social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.
The group said content related to Covid’s origins, vaccine efficacy, and Covid treatments were affected.
Kennedy and the plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial, an order for the TNI to suspend any activities “with Internet companies to boycott and censor other online news publishers,” and unspecified damages.
The TNI partners work to “alert each other to disinformation” so platforms can review any suspicious content quickly while publishers make sure they “don’t unwittingly republish dangerous falsehoods,” according to the BBC, which had no comment.
Key Background
Kennedy is a longtime critic of vaccination, and has been publicly criticized by other members of the Kennedy clan for spreading misinformation about vaccines, including the discredited theory they cause autism. Last year, Kennedy issued an apology about comments he made about Anne Frank after comparing vaccines and masking mandates to the Holocaust and saying “even in Hitler’s Germany … you could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did,” an option he insinuated was unavailable to vaccine skeptics today. Kennedy has also floated a conspiracy theory that billionaire Bill Gates’ work in vaccine development is part of a larger plot to control the world via microchips.
Further Reading
Debunked Bill Gates Conspiracy Gets A Boost From RFK Jr., Marla Maples (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2023/01/13/rfk-jr-sues-bbc-and-other-media-outlets-over-covid-censorship/