WASHINGTON—The Heritage Foundation announced today that it is joining the Free Speech Alliance, a coalition of more than 90 conservative organizations working together to ensure conservatives’ free speech online, and to hold tech companies accountable when they undermine it.  

To accomplish these important goals, the alliance is pushing Big Tech on four critical action items: provide transparency, provide clarity on “hate speech,” provide equal footing for conservatives online, and mirror the First Amendment with their policies and procedures.   

Heritage President Kevin Roberts released the following statement announcing Heritage’s decision to join the coalition: 

“Big Tech is an enemy of the American people. They are weaponizing unprecedented power and influence to silence Americans, undermine freedom, and fundamentally reshape our society. It’s time for conservatives to unite and push back, and that’s why Heritage is joining the Free Speech Alliance. 

 

“I am so proud to join this effort, led by Brent Bozell and the Media Research Center, who have done so much for the cause of freedom in this country. We will only win this fight against Big Tech if we work as one, and make clear the truth of what more and more Americans are learning every day—Big Tech is not a force for good, and that it is time for policymakers at the state and federal levels to implement aggressive reforms that rein in Big Tech’s influence and constrain its ability to unduly impact our republic. I look forward to the victories we will win together.” 

Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, released the following statement: 

“We are honored to have The Heritage Foundation as our newest member of the Free Speech Alliance. Heritage has long fought for the freedoms afforded to Americans by our Founding Fathers.  

 

“It is only fitting that, today, Heritage joins us in the fight to hold Big Tech accountable and restore free speech online.  

 

“Now, more than ever, it is critical that conservatives band together against the existential threat that censorship poses to the founding principles of American democracy.” 

Heritage is committed to fighting Big Tech censorship and overreach over American society as we know it. Earlier this year, Heritage’s Center for Technology Policy, led by tech policy research fellow Kara Frederick, released a comprehensive roadmap to do just that. 

Read the report: Combating Big Tech’s Totalitarianism: A Road Map 

Heritage and The Daily Signal, the media outlet of The Heritage Foundation, are no strangers to Big Tech censorship and overreach.   

• In February, YouTube censored a video posted to The Daily Signal’s YouTube channel in which Virginia parent Merianne Jensen criticized unscientific and harmful school mask mandates, claiming it “violated” the platform’s “COVID-19 medical misinformation policy.” 
   
• Last year, Amazon removed paid ads promoting a book by Heritage senior fellow Mike Gonzalez titled, “BLM: The Making of a New Marxist Revolution,” because content that “revolves around controversial or highly debated social topics is not permitted.” After a public pressure campaign, Amazon reversed itself and restored the ads.   
   
• In 2020, one of Heritage’s YouTube videos on gender dysphoria was censored by the company, while in 2019, The Daily Signal reported that YouTube had also removed a similar video on its YouTube channel.   
   
• And in early 2019, then-Heritage President Kay C. James was invited to be a member of Google’s new AI board, only for Google to dissolve the board after an outcry from company employees that James, a conservative, was asked to be on the board.