Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is canceled his home DirecTV membership over the television provider’s cancelation of the right-wing news channel One America News Network (OANN).
Paul announced on Twitter Monday that he was ditching DirecTV. “@DIRECTV is cancelling @OANN so I just cancelled my home Direct TV. Why give money to people who hate us?” Paul said.
.@DIRECTV is cancelling @OANN so I just cancelled my home Direct TV. Why give money to people who hate us?
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 17, 2022
DirecTV, one of the largest U.S. pay-TV providers, announced last week that it intended to drop OANN from its lineup, deciding not to renew its contract with OANN’s parent company Herring Networks Inc. DirecTV is also dropping Herring’s other channel, AWE, a lifestyle channel.
“We informed Herring Networks that, following a routine internal review, we do not plan to enter into a new contract when our current agreement expires,” DirecTV said in a statement to Bloomberg on Friday.
DirecTV’s decision to cut OANN comes as Democratic lawmakers have ramped up pressure on cable television providers to cut down on “misinformation” being spread over their airwaves. Last month, President Joe Biden scolded cable companies and social media platforms for hosting “purveyors of lies and misinformation.”
In a December 21 address from the White House, Biden attacked the companies and claimed they were contributing to vaccine misinformation and endangering lives.
“Again, for folks who are not vaccinated, you may think you’re putting only yourself at risk, but it’s your choice. Your choice is not just a choice about you. It affects other people. You are putting other people at risk. Your loved ones, your friends, neighbors, strangers you run into. And your choice can be the difference between life or death,” Biden claimed. “The longer the virus is around, the more likely variants form, and they may be deadlier than the ones that have come before.”
“Let me say again and again and again, please, get vaccinated. It is the only responsible thing to do. Those who are not vaccinated are causing hospitals to overrun, to become overrun again,” he continued. He went on to credit former President Donald Trump for overseeing the creation of several vaccines against COVID-19.
“Thanks to the prior administration and our scientific community, America was one of the first countries to get the vaccine. Thanks to my administration and the hard work of Americans, we led a roll-out and made America among the world leaders in getting shots in arms,” Biden said.
The president then called on cable and social media companies to crack down on “dangerous misinformation” being spread on their platforms.
“Look, the unvaccinated are responsible for their own choices, but those choices have been fueled by dangerous misinformation on cable TV and social media. You know, these companies and personalities are making money by peddling lies and allowing this information that can kill their own customers and their own supporters. It’s wrong. It’s a immoral. I call on the purveyors of these lies and misinformation to stop it. Stop it now,” he said.