Some people are surprised that The New York Times and other news media, once considered bastions of liberal thought, are now accusing conservatives of "misinformation" and "disinformation," especially on free speech platforms such as YouTube.
That's because traditionally, liberals have been considered passionate about free speech. But that's not true today, some social media activists say. The standards of political affiliation have changed with regard to speech freedoms.
Social media whiz Kenny Webster says accusations of "misinformation," as alleged in a recent New York Times story about YouTube's conservative influencers, are really about attempts to censor those influencers.
People who assume today's Democrats are protective of free speech are wrong, Webster says. A radio star of the "Walton and Johnson Show" on 950 KPRC radio in Houston, he says dedication to free speech is an old-fashioned 20th Century liberal tenet that no longer applies to most Democrats, who are today more interested in muzzling speakers they don't agree with, labeling them purveyors of "misinformation" and "disinformation."
"There's a common misconception that the classical liberals of the 20th Century are the current liberals in the Democrat party. They're not. And we can see that in people like RFK Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, Elon Musk.
"The people who were on the left but close to the center are no longer welcome in the Democrat party. They didn't change, their party changed," Webster says.
"Democrats are very loudly and proudly pro-censorship, they've made this very clear. And for years -- centuries really -- we've known that the best way to stop bad ideas is to combat them with good ideas, not to censor them."
He notes that former President Donald Trump can be a good example of a former Democrat who now has no place in the political party.
"Back in the '90s, Donald Trump would have been considered a Democrat. In fact, a lot of Donald Trump's policies were the Democrats' policies in the '90s, but now the Democrats have mostly become communists. And what do communists love most of all? Among other things, they love censorship."
