Right-wing talk show host Glenn Beck drew condemnation after he compared social media companies’ crackdown on President Donald Trump to the ghettoization of Jews in Nazi Germany.
“You can’t have freedom of speech if you can’t … express yourself in a meaningful place,” Beck said in an interview Tuesday on Tucker Carlson’s widely watched Fox News show, claiming censorship was “absolutely un-American” whether carried out by people on the left or the right.
“This is like the Germans with the Jews behind the wall. They would put them in the ghetto. Well, this is the digital ghetto.” Beck continued. “You can talk all you want. Jews, you do whatever you want behind the wall.”
“Well, that’s not meaningful. And that’s where we are,” Beck said. “That’s where millions of Americans will be.”
Beck, the founder of right-wing digital media company The Blaze, claimed it was “not to compare it to the Germans,” despite doing exactly that. “It is not to do anything but warn if you don’t stand up for free speech, you will be the one that loses it as well,” he added.
Check out Beck’s comments here:
Mulitple major technology platforms — including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube — have either banned Trump or taken steps to prohibit him from using their services after he incited last week’s Capitol riot. The social media giants, along with Apple, Amazon and Google, also have taken steps to distance themselves from right wing extremists.
Supporters of the president who promote conspiracy theories or encourage violence have been booted from social media sites. Some responded by migrating to the right-wing social network Parler, which Amazon has now stopped hosting due to its incendiary content.
The American Jewish Committee condemned Beck’s comments.
“The constant weaponization of history’s darkest chapter is deeply offensive and an affront to the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust,” the organization tweeted, demanding Beck apologize. “There’s no comparison between big tech companies enforcing their community standards and the Holocaust. None.”
Others shared their disgust at Beck’s analogy, calling it “incredibly” and “utterly” offensive:
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