The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act’s (JCPA) supporters want to create a Silicon Valley slushtrain which allows the most powerful media companies to censor conservative information while ensuring that they have access to the best news.
For the past two years, JCPA supporters were unsuccessful in getting the bill on the floor. They want it to be tied to the NDAA.
Senator Jack Reed (D.RI), is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee which oversees defense spending.
Senator Reed presented Breitbart News a revised bill. It was attached to an appropriation for military purpose.
The preamble to the bill is:
Fiscal 2022 appropriations have been authorized to support military activities of Department of Defense, Department of Energy, and military construction. To determine military personnel strengths for other purposes.
This brazen act of last-minute sabotage by supporters of media cartel legislation is a continuation of Politico’s prediction that, after the bill failed to get a vote on the floor, JCPA supporters would attach the bill to a new bill.
Should the NDAA route fail, supporters may attempt to attach an omnibus funding bill to it. Such a precedent would allow for must-pass bills to support narrow special interests groups.
The JCPA was established to allow media companies, dominated primarily by wealthy conglomerates to form negotiating groups to obtain financial favors from Big Tech companies.
Both left-leaning as well as right-leaning parties have been upset by the bill. Hedge funds often play a role in firing journalists and putting them out of work.
Republicans include GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise (minority Whip), Senators. Blackburn and Rubio, Cotton, Lee, and Sens. Steve Scalise. They all have criticised the bill.
The Senate amendment was introduced in haste to address conservative concern about collusion between Big Tech media corporations and the media industries regarding censorship competition. However, there are many ways for the cartel to not ignore conservative media.
It is hard to believe that provisions to prevent cartel discrimination based on “viewpoint” are convincing. Instead, they are censored for misinformation or hate speech.
