Make no mistake. “Cancel culture” isn’t just a catchy phrase, it’s a serious threat to our republic. Those with a platform, like Congressman Jim Jordan, deserve credit for calling attention to the danger of mob tactics being used to suppress free speech in our country. But while exposing the problem is helpful, the government can’t fix it.
After all, politics isn’t upstream from culture — it’s downstream.
Not only is it impossible to use the force of government to stop Twitter mobs from pressuring businesses to obey their demands, the use of such governmental power to heavily regulate social media could result in disastrous consequences. For instance, can you imagine what Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Nancy Pelosi would do if they had full control over online speech?
There is a role for government in this fight, but not in Washington, D.C. Republicans still hold a historically high number of governor’s mansions and state legislatures, and it is state governments who can best use the power of the purse to clearly reject any attempts to curtail the First Amendment.
They can do this in two ways. First, elected officials can hold state-run universities accountable. Canceling speakers and imposing bans on unpopular ideas should come with the risk of losing public funding. Politicians should not stand idle while our nation’s centers of learning become centers of progressive indoctrination.
The second way state governments can combat “cancel culture” is by hitting the main culprits — Big Tech — in the pocketbooks. 
The biggest spender in American commerce is the government. As a result, state and local governments should divest in any Big Tech stock. They must also stop spending our tax dollars on Google AdWords and Facebook Ads, and stop using Amazon Web Services.
Florida is leading the way in this fight. State Rep. Randy Fine recently <a href="https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2021/01/12/rep-randy-fine-asks-florida-governor-divest-public-investments-tech-companies-censoring-conservative/6637829002/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2021/01/12/rep-randy-fine-asks-florida-governor-divest-public-investments-tech-companies-censoring-conservative/6637829002/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1616770350301000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEg2A3d8L9ZFatcVUORbC7uiJ7yjw">sent a letter </a>to Governor Ron DeSantis asking him to start the divestment process. But ultimately, this battle will need to be fought not in Washington or in state legislatures but in the culture itself. The most influential political voices in our society no longer reside in politics — or journalism for that matter. The fact is that the most powerful political voices are coming out of Hollywood, professional sports, music, comedy, fashion and other areas of our culture. Taylor Swift can have a larger societal impact with one Tweet than an entire political campaign driving millions of dollars in advertising spending. 
Essentially, this makes athletes, actors, and social media figures the most influential in American society. For better or for worse, they control American culture.
They’re also happy to exercise that power. If we’re going to reverse the “cancel culture,” the rest of  us — the little guys — need to speak out and stand firm. The Left dominates because we let them. We self-censor and even apologize for offending. Laws and politicians can’t fix this problem for us.
First, employers must stop caving to cyber bullies, and celebrities must stop apologizing. There is nothing to be gained from confessing your social-justice misdeeds. These bullies will still hate you no matter what empty platitudes you offer them. Apologizing to the mob simply empowers them. 
Second, conservatives and libertarians must speak out against the left-wing fascists whenever and wherever they speak — including on social media. The growing trend of conservatives proudly deleting their Facebook and Twitter accounts is a self-inflicted wound. I can assure you that Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg will not lose any sleep when we quit their platforms. To the contrary, it’s exactly what they want. Instead, use their platforms against them as much as you can.
All of this is uncomfortable and hard. You will be called hateful, intolerant and bigoted. You will be socially ostracized and even punished by a few, there’s simply no reason for the “silent majority” to remain silent when the future of our nation is at stake. The culture wars won’t be won by politicians, but rather by ordinary Americans who are empowered to speak their minds.
Speak yours, loudly and proudly. 
Adam Guillette is the President of <a href="https://www.aim.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aim.org/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1616770350301000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGC8sb1Qfe23m016-KJ5UgytXgj9Q">Accuracy in Media</a>.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

In this photo illustration, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Government Can’t Solve our Cancel Culture Problem

Cancel Culture

Teachers unions have spent decades telling us that it is essential to get children into big, expensive schools at the earliest age possible. No longer content with children learning from home until Kindergarten, unions attacked homeschooling and have insisted on enrolling children into publicly-funded schools two years before kindergarten. But that was before COVID-19.
Now, these same unions are fine with simply throwing these kids an iPad. So, which is it?  The answer is neither. Teachers unions’ attempt to “never let a crisis go to waste” is back-firing into making the case for expanding school choice in the United States.
Rather than working on ways to get back into the classrooms, teachers unions from coast-to-coast have busied themselves with progressive policy demands like <a href="https://reason.com/2020/07/28/teachers-unions-want-wealth-taxes-charter-school-bans-and-medicaid-for-all-before-schools-can-reopen/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://reason.com/2020/07/28/teachers-unions-want-wealth-taxes-charter-school-bans-and-medicaid-for-all-before-schools-can-reopen/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607628243251000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHjxoj501poVhI136OxxL9XAY_eYQ">Medicare for All </a>and various arguments to avoid going back to work, while accepting a paycheck.
<a href="https://www.hoover.org/research/teachers-union-demands-far-left-policies-returning-classrooms" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.hoover.org/research/teachers-union-demands-far-left-policies-returning-classrooms&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607628243251000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG93iZIJ-6Cqv1Fn_V-lXnbUc3pAg">United Teachers Los Angeles demanded radical leftist economic policies</a> and social justice initiatives as a bribe in return for “educating” children. Meanwhile, the Chicago Teachers Union has continued to prove that educating children is simply something they’re not interested in. <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/chicago-teachers-union-takes-legal-020100725.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://news.yahoo.com/chicago-teachers-union-takes-legal-020100725.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607628243251000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEPEzazPHzWg7ghfyvGzPyBi8HGKA">First they filed another legal challenge</a> to block the reopening of schools, <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/chicago-teachers-union-removes-tweet-claiming-push-to-reopen-schools-rooted-in-sexism-racism-and-misogyny" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/chicago-teachers-union-removes-tweet-claiming-push-to-reopen-schools-rooted-in-sexism-racism-and-misogyny&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607628243251000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHcVd9P2nsxDOUoM9K4x31QDm-p2g">then they tweeted that the push to reopen schools and educate children is rooted in racism and sexism.</a>
Never before has a group so openly espoused a viewpoint so directly in conflict with their actions. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/distance-learning-coronavirus-pandemic-oregon-7fde612c3dbfd2e21fab9673ca49ad89" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://apnews.com/article/distance-learning-coronavirus-pandemic-oregon-7fde612c3dbfd2e21fab9673ca49ad89&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607628243251000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHXqcs2YymPjBVdpD50FvWMXlpyCA">Test scores have indeed been dropping dramatically </a>throughout the pandemic and the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/01/us/covid19-pandemic-black-hispanic-students-report-trnd/index.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/01/us/covid19-pandemic-black-hispanic-students-report-trnd/index.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607628243251000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFiHXG1DweO8eIQ4ZC9P_sU09ouxg">fall among minority children</a> is particularly sharp. Nationwide, it has been projected that the number of failing students has doubled or possibly tripled.
They claim to be concerned about racism, but certainly not enough to actually help minority children get a better education—it’s <a href="https://www.educationnext.org/who-goes-private-school-long-term-enrollment-trends-family-income/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.educationnext.org/who-goes-private-school-long-term-enrollment-trends-family-income/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607628243251000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHBzrC28e7oTg_Eqer8NW56AZFZEg">minority children who are less likely to be able to afford private schooling</a> and minority children who we see <a href="https://youtu.be/0KqT2gR5yLI" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://youtu.be/0KqT2gR5yLI&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607628243251000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEI6cAtiwpbatzwIt6oeGXjJltcJw">crying after they lose charter school lotteries</a>.
“Never let a crisis go to waste” should also be the rallying cry of those who seek to escape these bullies. Republicans still have a majority of state legislatures and governors’ mansions. In addition, we are currently experiencing perhaps the <a href="https://fee.org/articles/homeschooling-more-than-doubles-during-the-pandemic/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://fee.org/articles/homeschooling-more-than-doubles-during-the-pandemic/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607628243251000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEczCyZ8twTK3jj0NLHR-J2tIWgmw">greatest interest in school choice </a>that our nation has ever seen. If elected officials choose to expand access to vouchers, charter schools, or educational savings accounts, they can make school choice a reality for many, many children.
Media can play its part by stepping up and “speaking truth to power.” <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Federation_of_Teachers#:~:text=Since%201980%2C%20AFT%20and%20the,unions%20have%20gone%20to%20Democrats." data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Federation_of_Teachers%23:~:text%3DSince%25201980%252C%2520AFT%2520and%2520the,unions%2520have%2520gone%2520to%2520Democrats.&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607628243251000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF9oYp47fOwTyf_BbLZd36-HCoX1w">The National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers make larger campaign contributions than </a>George Soros. Investigative journalism should expose these powerful political players—at least for the sake of our children who are falling further and further behind as the pandemic-driven school closures continue.
For far too long, mainstream media have advanced the narrative that these unions are fighting for our children. We’ve seen courageous business owners bend over backwards—<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-86gfJosHc" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3D3-86gfJosHc&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607628243251000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF5Wr3qtDbjCxGY0Ppea8Fj81d8Lw">spending tens of thousands </a>of dollars adapting to COVID safety guidelines—to keep businesses open and staff employed. And, we’ve even seen <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/coronavirus/bs-md-hogan-schools-order-20200803-v3clsgss6fgo3d4t2qagepngsa-story.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.baltimoresun.com/coronavirus/bs-md-hogan-schools-order-20200803-v3clsgss6fgo3d4t2qagepngsa-story.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607628243252000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH2b3GrfL5hq0twHDqj5oBIMos-Mw">Christian schools bring their students back</a>, much to the chagrin of public school leaders.
Meanwhile, teachers unions have been pushing to <a href="https://reason.com/2020/07/28/teachers-unions-want-wealth-taxes-charter-school-bans-and-medicaid-for-all-before-schools-can-reopen/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://reason.com/2020/07/28/teachers-unions-want-wealth-taxes-charter-school-bans-and-medicaid-for-all-before-schools-can-reopen/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607628243252000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFUU4Ls7ef1kyOXyxmgU9d1JN_L4Q">advance progressive policies</a> and using social justice mantras to make the case for staying home.
Never in our lifetimes will we have a better opportunity to advance education reform. Whether it is from introducing vouchers, offering educational savings accounts, or allowing additional charter schools, the states need to take advantage of this crisis.
Adam Guillette is the President of Accuracy in Media, <a href="http://www.aim.org/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.aim.org&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607628243252000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGMowDDM_fEXYrMFiLqm8yV2p_pGA">www.aim.org</a>.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Education Activists Hold Charter School Rally In Brooklyn

If Schools Aren’t Essential, Then School Choice Is

Homeschooling

Readers Pass

School Choice

School Lockdowns

Teachers Unions

In recent months, social media titans have been on the hot seat on Capitol Hill. We’ve seen all the elected officials try to make a name for themselves by aggressively questioning Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey. In most cases, these politicians have shown how little they actually understand social media.
And while these elected officials have been mugging for the cameras on Capitol Hill, online “news” outlets like BuzzFeed, NowThis and Teen Vogue have been brilliantly, strategically and diabolically “informing” the youngest generations of voters. Make no mistake: These sites are an even greater threat to the future of our republic.
BuzzFeed is a news site founded in the early days of social media. Initially, it churned out low-level, easily digestible stories and marketed them to the masses. None of it was political. This enabled BuzzFeed to build a following of millions of people from across the ideological spectrum. Currently it has more than <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BuzzFeed" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.facebook.com/BuzzFeed&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605992956682000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGmfAVhSaWROI3CLoLUnGYamC9wCQ">12 million followers on Facebook</a> alone. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rachel_Maddow_Show#:~:text=In%20March%2C%202018%2C%20The%20Rachel,narrowly%20topping%20Hannity's%203.00%20million.%22" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rachel_Maddow_Show%23:~:text%3DIn%2520March%252C%25202018%252C%2520The%2520Rachel,narrowly%2520topping%2520Hannity's%25203.00%2520million.%2522&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605992956682000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEMBhF7ZkBLGzUYMke-76OskoN16A">Rachel Maddow is lucky to draw 3 million viewers for her MSNBC show</a>. But unlike <a href="https://pos.org/whos-watching-a-look-at-the-demographics-of-cable-news-channel-watchers/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://pos.org/whos-watching-a-look-at-the-demographics-of-cable-news-channel-watchers/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605992956682000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG-1lMO4n42zW0lPRp3eh2uZQo4CQ">Maddow’s viewers</a>, <a href="https://today.yougov.com/topics/media/articles-reports/2017/11/27/buzzfeed-and-atlantic-readers-are-largely-one-and-" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://today.yougov.com/topics/media/articles-reports/2017/11/27/buzzfeed-and-atlantic-readers-are-largely-one-and-&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605992956682000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGUvK2Yo1bX-ZbyjG9rhIZHTr-9SQ">BuzzFeed’s audience is young and impressionable</a>.
After five years growing its audience with “clickbait” stories, the writers responsible for stories such as, “10 Signs Your Cat is a Wizard” and “Which Disney Princess are You?” decided to report on American politics. “Report” is a polite description of what BuzzFeed began to do. Their stories were so obviously left-wing propaganda that even CNN began to criticize them. (Or perhaps CNN was just upset about new competition in the “fake news” business?)
Soon after, they gained a competitor: NowThis. NowThis is essentially a PR arm of the Democratic Party masquerading as a news site. In fact, multiple executives from NowThis News came directly from the DNC, or campaign staffs of Stacey Abrams and Hillary Clinton. College students think they’re reading news when, in fact, they’re reading Democrat talking points. NowThis has <a href="https://www.facebook.com/NowThisNews/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.facebook.com/NowThisNews/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605992956682000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF-zZNYj7B_DFtYNf39_RWT4t6E5Q">15 million Facebook likes</a> and 2.7 million <a href="https://twitter.com/nowthisnews" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/nowthisnews&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605992956682000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEeg5W8XuITaR3DlOfCwrTvDb_Z7w">Twitter followers</a>. NowThis Politics has <a href="https://www.facebook.com/NowThisPolitics" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.facebook.com/NowThisPolitics&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605992956682000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF3p7AHGWJjyrB4nWYDdsOEmcOqwA">7 million Facebook likes</a>.
Politifact, to its credit, has corrected their outrageous lies on multiple occasions. During Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, NowThis repeatedly claimed that Trump lied about Bill Clinton signing NAFTA. NowThis’ young readers were not alive for the signing of NAFTA, and I guess NowThis assumes this audience won’t use YouTube to watch a video of Clinton signing the treaty.
Conservatives think their children become progressive because of their professors. But it’s often because of the content produced by BuzzFeed, NowThis and other sites like them. College kids don’t love their homework or going to class, but they do love reading stories on their phones.
While you and I might not take these sites seriously, investors do. By 2014, BuzzFeed was reporting $100 million in revenue. The next year NBC-Universal invested $200 million. NBC also invested in NowThis and announced a partnership with them to create content around the Olympics. Considering how effective these two sites are at getting young people to read left-wing news, this is basically the equivalent of NBC investing hundreds of millions of dollars in College Democrats.
The dangerous players are the ones who share their propaganda with an easily influenced audience. This playbook was perfected by junk-news sites BuzzFeed and NowThis. Each and every day they put out left-wing content disguised as news. And they’re growing rapidly. This week, BuzzFeed announced the<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/buzzfeed-to-acquire-huffpost-in-stock-deal-with-verizon-media-11605808800" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wsj.com/articles/buzzfeed-to-acquire-huffpost-in-stock-deal-with-verizon-media-11605808800&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605992956682000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFqypUU0ahAGKk60rIuYiKbTLp1yg"> acquisition of HuffPost from Verizon</a>.
The first step to solving a problem is to recognize that you have one. Attacking Dorsey and Zuckerberg on Capitol Hill may make for good clips to send to constituents, but it’s not getting to the root of the problem. <a href="https://www.aim.org/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aim.org/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605992956682000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHCTimFaOO8hJhdEzZoAvx2LkAiBg">Accuracy in Media</a> has been exposing these sites and making sure that young people realize they’re being lied to by partisan players. Our activists are holding them accountable for unethical, inaccurate stories.
Conservatives and libertarians must remember that political technology is philosophically neutral. Rather than trying to force apolitical college kids to read bland policy papers or watch overtly ideological videos, we need to shift the fight to the most important battlefield there is—the culture.
Adam Guillette is the President of Accuracy in Media, <a href="http://www.aim.org/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.aim.org&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605992956682000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFrf6l4FL1SnPYQg249pNgMxn2rLg">www.aim.org</a>.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author&#8217;s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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Adam Guillette

Government Can’t Solve our Cancel Culture Problem

If Schools Aren’t Essential, Then School Choice Is

Clickbait and Switch: How Junk News Sites Influence Young People