After years of aiding and abetting the systematic censorship of conservative voices, the Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO) is finally being dismantled. The organization, that has been instrumental in shaping the narrative around the rigged 2020 election and the COVID-19 pandemic, is finally meeting its end.
The closure comes after multiple subpoenas were issued by the House Judiciary Committee. This marks a significant victory for free speech advocates who have long argued that tech giants, research institutions, and government should not have the power to control and manipulate public discourse.
Reporters Casey Newton and Zoë Schiffer from Platformer reported that SIO is currently in the process of winding down. Its founding director, Alex Stamos, left his position in November.
Renee DiResta, its research director, also left the organization after her contract was not renewed. Other staff members have either seen their contracts expire or have been told to look for jobs elsewhere.
“Some members of the eight-person team might find other jobs at Stanford, and it’s possible that the university will retain the Stanford Internet Observatory branding, according to sources familiar with the matter. But the lab will not conduct research into the 2024 election or other elections in the future,” according to the news outlet Platformer.
Jeff Hancock, a professor of communication who runs a separate program known as the Stanford Social Media Lab, will oversee what remains of SIO. Two of SIO’s major initiatives — the peer-reviewed Journal of Online Trust and Safety and its Trust and Safety Research Conference — will continue under his leadership.
In a statement, Stanford strongly disputed the narrative that the Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO) is being dismantled. They claimed that the changes are merely organizational, involving new leadership but maintaining the same core mission.
“The important work of SIO continues under new leadership, including its critical work on child safety and other online harms, its publication of the Journal of Online Trust and Safety, the Trust and Safety Research Conference, and the Trust and Safety Teaching Consortium,” a spokesperson wrote. “Stanford remains deeply concerned about efforts, including lawsuits and congressional investigations, that chill freedom of inquiry and undermine legitimate and much needed academic research – both at Stanford and across academia.”
Jim Hoft, Publisher and Founder of The Gateway Pundit
The Gateway Pundit’s Jim Hoft and America First Legal filed a massive lawsuit against this online censorship organization that focused on targeting conservatives following the 2020 and 2022 elections.
In this ongoing lawsuit, TGP’s Jim Hoft and AFL are suing one of the primary private cabals that coordinated with the federal government to effectively censor millions of people, including the Stanford Internet Conservatory.
The lawsuit reads, in part:
Plaintiff Jim Hoft is the founder, owner, and operator of the popular news website The Gateway Pundit. He resides in St. Louis, Missouri. The Gateway Pundit is one of the most popular news sites in the country, with about 2.7 million view per day on average.
Mr. Hoft, his website, and his audiences have experienced and continue to experience extensive censorship on social-media platforms, including censorship of speech on COVID-19 issues and election-security issues, due to Defendants’ actions. The Election Integrity Partnership’s public report mentions Hoft 47 times, identifies him as the “#2 superspreader” of misinformation on Twitter, and repeatedly flags his content as supposed “misinformation.” Likewise, the Virality Project also flags Hoft’s COVID vaccine-related speech as “misinformation.” This censorship directly affects Mr. Hoft and his audiences in the Western District of Louisiana and elsewhere.
This is not The Gateway Pundit’s only action in fighting back against the unconstitutional government censorship apparatus.
Today or possibly next week, we expect the Supreme Court to decide on the “most important free speech case in a generation,” Missouri v. Biden, where yours truly, Jim Hoft, Publisher and Founder of the Gateway Pundit, is one of the lead plaintiffs.
Missouri v. Biden is the case filed by the courageous Attorneys General from Missouri and Louisiana against the Biden Administration for their violations of the First Amendment. Specifically, the case complains to the Court that the federal government violated the Constitution when it specifically directed social media companies to delete comments they disliked, and when the FBI’s corrupt agents, agents like Elvis Chan, engaged in a wholesale deplatforming of specific users, specific comments, and specific topics.
The post Stanford Internet Observatory, Sued by The Gateway Pundit and America First Legal for their Primary Role in the Censoring Critical COVID-19 and 2020 Election Information, is Finally Shutting Down: Report appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
