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DeSantis warns Apple ‘raw exercise of monopolistic power’ on Twitter, China may prompt Congressional action

November 30, 2022 | | Print Article

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling out Apple for its anti-free-speech inclinations as it relates to both Elon-Musk-owned Twitter as well as in the context of the ongoing grassroots protests in CCP-controlled China over President Xi Jinping’s repressive zero-COVID, harsh-lockdown policy.

The GOP governor also floated the idea of congressional intervention to break the tech giant’s monopoly in the technology marketplace and (along with Google and Facebook), the so-called digital town square.

An advertiser boycott of Twitter by woke corporations is also underway.

According to Fox Business, “citizens [in China] will no longer be able to take full advantage of their iPhones’ AirDrop file sharing feature, which has frequently been used to bypass censorship and spread information about demonstrations.”

In a drastic form of lack of incongruence, Apple seems to jump on the social justice bandwagon at every opportunity even given its close business relationship with the authoritarian ruling regime in China and rampant human rights abuses in that communist country.

During a Tuesday public appearance in Jacksonville, Fla., DeSantis explained, as alluded to above, that “In China, there [are] reports that Apple is not allowing the protesters to use this AirDrop function, where they’re trying to communicate. That obviously is providing aid and comfort to the CCP.”

The newly reelected Republican governor and possible 2024 U.S. presidential candidate went on to assert the following about potential corporate retaliation:

“So you see that report, and that’s very concerning, and then when you also hear reports that Apple is threatening to remove Twitter from the App Store because Elon Musk is actually opening it up for free speech and is restoring a lot of accounts that were unfairly and illegitimately suspended for putting out accurate information about COVID…so many things these ‘experts’ were wrong at…the old regime at Twitter, their response was to try to just suffocate the dissent…and Elon Musk knows that’s not a winning formula, and so he’s providing free speech.”

 

Watch the governor’s remarks via Forbes Breaking News:

“And so Apple responds to that by ‘nuking’ [Twitter] from the app store, I think that would be a huge, huge mistake,” DeSantis continued. “And it would be really a raw exercise of monopolistic power that I think would merit a response from the United States Congress.”

Providing some advice to Apple, DeSantis said “Don’t be a vassal of the CCP on one hand and then use your corporate power in the United States on the other to suffocate Americans and try to suppress their right to express themselves.”

“And so I’m glad things are changing at Twitter, and I know this is a lot of work to do with Big Tech generally, but this is big progress, and we’re really happy that this is now happening,” he added.

According to Forbes, federal lawmakers may be following the governor’s lead.

“Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who serve on the House and Senate Judiciary committees’ antitrust panels, along with Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), also called on Congress Monday to take legislative action to limit Apple’s and other tech giants’ control over the app market.”

In an editorial on Tuesday evening in which he discussed the disabled iPhone feature, Fox News host Tucker Carlson claimed that Apple was aiding and abetting the totalitarian government in Beijing.

“Without permanent AirDrop, it’s effectively impossible for freedom-minded citizens to organize with one another…in other words…Apple is now an active collaborator with China’s murderous police state. When tanks roll in to a Chinese city, Apple is rooting for the tanks…”

DeSantis appeared on Carlson’s show on Tuesday to reaffirm his criticism of Apple’s conduct during the ongoing protests in China.

“This is maybe the most powerful company in the entire world…they exercise more authority in some respects than even some governments do. And they’re using their authority to protect the CCP while also try to limit speech here in the United States.”

He also mentioned the Florida law that already prohibits Big Tech censorship appears headed to the Supreme Court.

Watch:

(Video: Fox News)

It’s probably an understatement to note that China’s emergence as an economic powerhouse has created pervasive conflicts of interest throughout the globalist cohort in both the public and private sectors, including among those who claim the mantle of protecting democracy.

Republished with permission from American Wire News Service

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Robert Jonathan
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