WASHINGTON—Heritage Foundation experts responded Monday to Twitter’s censoring of a Daily Signal video documenting the work of mounted Border Patrol agents. The video, shot and published in 2017, highlights the important role horses play in helping the U.S. Border Patrol secure the border. Following the explosion of the debunked “whips” narrative in the media last week, The Daily Signal re-posted the video on Twitter. Instead of showing the video in the tweet as it should, some users saw this warning: “The following media includes potentially sensitive content.”
Twitter’s warning suppressed views of the video and cut off an important contribution to the conversation about border security and the Biden border crisis. Twitter initially denied censoring the video, but Monday afternoon changed its story, saying the video was indeed flagged but refusing to say why or whether the censoring was the result of an algorithm or if human error was involved.
Mark Morgan, former acting CBP commissioner and Heritage visiting fellow: “The men and women of the Border Patrol play a vital role in securing our borders from a number of threats, and the American people deserve to know more about the vital missions they conduct every day. Those who serve in the Border Patrol’s Horse Patrol Program are an integral part of those missions, often going where other assets can’t. Unfortunately, far-left politicians on Capitol Hill and their allies in the media and popular culture have embraced a false, debunked narrative about mounted Border Patrol agents in recent days to distract the public from the Biden administration’s open-borders policies and the subsequent historic border crisis the administration has created. These lies and smears against the men and women of the Border Patrol are disgusting, and it’s completely unacceptable that companies like Twitter are helping advance those lies by censoring the truth.”
Lora Ries, Heritage senior research fellow and former acting DHS deputy chief of staff: “The attacks on the men and women of the Border Patrol are outrageous, and are just the latest in the left’s dishonest and disingenuous assault on law enforcement in this country. Instead of censoring conservatives who are providing valuable insights into federal law enforcement personnel and operations, Big Tech should be allowing all voices to take part in the debate. They’ve clearly failed on that front by censoring this important work on the Border Patrol’s horseback operations.”
Rob Bluey, Heritage vice president of communications and executive editor of The Daily Signal: “Twitter’s decision to suppress The Daily Signal’s video on the Border Patrol’s Horse Patrol Program is unacceptable and another eye-opening example of Big Tech’s censorship. The Daily Signal produced this video in 2017—four years before the Biden border crisis—to educate Americans about the important role of horses in the Border Patrol’s work. Yet now, when such information conflicts with the left’s preferred narrative, Twitter’s censorship police stepped in with a flagrant case of anti-conservative bias. Twitter should explain why The Daily Signal’s video received a ‘sensitive content’ warning and why it prevented its users from seeing this factual account of the Border Patrol’s use of horses.”
For more information on the Biden border crisis, visit Heritage’s resource at TheBidenBorderCrisis.com. The website chronicles in one place the various actions the Biden administration has taken to open America’s southern border, undermine the rule of law, and mislead Americans about what is happening at the border.
