Further attacks on Free Speech

Occasionally on social media there are comments from pro-capitalist shills along the lines of you call yourself a socialist but you’re using commodities that are provided by capitalism. A totally spurious argument obviously. One that ranks along with describing the former Soviet Union and others as ‘communist’. Socialists will continue to use whatever platforms are possible to propagate the socialist case. The organisation listed in the piece below is yet another example of those who wish to control free speech and censor beliefs that don’t correspond to their particular world view. ‘Hate’, like other labels, is an emotive term used to shut down differing opinions.

‘The Center for Countering Digital Hate, a UK-based non-profit tied to the Labour Party, aims to “kill” Elon Musk’s X platform with help from top Democrats in Washington, according to internal documents leaked by a whistleblower. Musk has declared “war” on the organization in response.

In several monthly planners distributed to staffers this year, the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) lists “Kill Musk’s Twitter” as its top annual priority, according to files leaked to journalists Matt Taibbi and Paul Thacker a report claiming that advertisements could be seen alongside pro-Nazi posts on X. Musk called the report “manufactured,” and his lawsuit alleges that its sole purpose was to “drive advertisers from the platform and destroy X Corp.”

Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, rebranding the platform as X and rolling back most of its censorship policies. Within days of Musk’s purchase, the White House announced the creation of the now-defunct ‘Disinformation Governance Board,’ ridiculed by conservatives and free speech advocates as an Orwellian “Ministry of Truth.” A week later, the CCDH joined two dozen other liberal NGOs in calling for an advertiser boycott of X.

The CCDH was founded by Morgan McSweeney, chief of staff to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and former director of Labour Together, a think tank closely associated with Starmer’s Labour Party. Labour Together has been advising US Vice President Kamala Harris’ election campaign, and more than 100 Labour Party activists are currently campaigning for Harris in the US.

CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed, who worked with McSweeney at Labour Together, aided Starmer’s rise to power by leading advertiser boycotts against his left-wing opponents. Among these opponents was ‘The Canary’, a leftist news site driven out of business over accusations of anti-Semitism from the CCDH and its subsidiary, ‘Stop Funding Fake News’.

In the US, the CCDH has lobbied the White House to censor Covid-19-related “disinformation,” unsuccessfully tried to get similar content banned from Substack, and led multiple campaigns against Musk.

According to internal documents, Ahmed is aware that the CCDH’s activities risk crossing a line between advocacy and lobbying, which is illegal for non- profits. Before scheduling meetings with lawmakers earlier this year, someone in the organization advised staff to “understand our limitations” as a non-profit organization, but still to “inch towards our goal of regulatory action.”

In a series of posts on X Musk pronounced the CCDH “a criminal organization,” and declared that “this is war.”’