Empire State Today

Glenn Greenwald, an investigative journalist and a subject of Laura Poitras’ documentary ‘Citizenfour,’ has criticized some contemporary reporters for what he sees as censorship of individuals exercising their right to free speech.

In a column for the New York Post, Greenwald called out Brian Stelter and Oliver Darcy of CNN, Ben Collins and Brandy Zadrozny of NBC, Mike Isaac, and Kevin Roose and Sheera Frenkel of The New York Times for their practice of searching every online platform where people post controversial statements and urging those individuals to be banned from sharing their thoughts.

He said that this kind of journalism is a regression that should be thwarted at all costs and that it is a slippery slope toward a “Stasi-like citizen surveillance.”

Greenwald, along with Edward Snowden, criticized the U.S. government for the illegal monitoring of its citizens in ‘Citizenfour.’

Fla. Gov. Ron DeSantis shared the same sentiments of Greenwald when he called the current practice of censoring outspoken political figures such as former president Donald Trump as “political manipulation.” He said that something should be done about this situation and added that Florida is working to combat censorship.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. bore the brunt of the current practice of censorship when he was banned from posting on Instagram after sharing debunked claims about vaccinations. He said that him being censored only increased the risk of people not knowing the dangers of some vaccines.