Federal Trade Commission Wants to Hear About Online Censorship

There have been countless stories about censorship covered here at Bearing Arms, as well as at many of the other great online sources for Second Amendment news and commentary. The number of folks that have been canceled, shadow banned, blocked, demonetized, and shutdown; who put out Second Amendment related content is astounding. Now the Federal Trade Commission has launched an inquiry on censorship, and they want to hear from you!

Have you made a social media post that ended up freezing your account? Have you had your free speech rights violated? I know I have.

Personally, I’ve been censored when trying to post product reviews over at Facebook. One of my sidequests is running an independent review site, and on more than one occasion I’ve been accused of trying to sell firearms or other verboten items. “But appeal,” I can hear folks say. Appeal I have, and have had those appeals ignored. Apparently reviewing certain items is synonymous with selling them.

What’s that end up doing to me? It chills my speech. I’m selective of what I put on Facebook, as well as how I phrase things.

On February 20, 2025, the FTC sent out a press release noting they’re looking into online censorship. Not only are they looking into it, they say in their comments that “Censorship by technology platforms is not just un-American, it is potentially illegal.” What a difference one month can make!

The release states:

Today, the Federal Trade Commission launched a public inquiry to better understand how technology platforms deny or degrade users’ access to services based on the content of their speech or affiliations, and how this conduct may have violated the law.

Censorship by technology platforms is not just un-American, it is potentially illegal. Tech firms can employ confusing or unpredictable internal procedures that cut users off, sometimes with no ability appeal the decision. Such actions taken by tech platforms may harm consumers, affect competition, may have resulted from a lack of competition, or may have been the product of anti-competitive conduct. 

The FTC issued a Request for Information (RFI) requesting public comment on how consumers may have been harmed by technology platforms that limited their ability to share ideas or affiliations freely and openly.

What’s interesting about this is the massive backpedaling that one Mark Zuckerberg recently did on an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience right before the time of the inauguration. If you’re interested in these things, do tune in. However, the long of the short of it was, Zuckerberg basically blamed the Biden administration for all the bad policy and censorship. 

Zuck blubbered about so-called “election interference” and anything to do with COVID-19. But, Zuckerberg fell short of saying that they censor other disfavored topics, such as the Second Amendment and firearms – his policies, not Biden’s. Further, Zuckerberg failed to give an outright apology, which he should still do so loudly and publicly.

“Tech firms should not be bullying their users,” said FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson. “This inquiry will help the FTC better understand how these firms may have violated the law by silencing and intimidating Americans for speaking their minds.”

“Tech platform users who have been banned, shadow banned, demonetized, or otherwise censored are encouraged to share their comments in response to the RFI,” the release further states. “The FTC is interested in understanding how consumers—including by potentially unfair or deceptive acts or practices, or potentially unfair methods of competition—have been harmed by the policies of tech firms.“

Folks have until May 21, 2025 to comment. The FTC notes that “once submitted, comments will be posted to Regulations.gov.,” however, if you want to submit anonymously, you can at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and they say to click “Report Now.”

This is a breath of fresh air. If you feel like any of the tech companies have censored you, zap off your comments to the FTC. Remember to be polite. It seems like we’re actually dealing with a government that welcomes us petitioning them, and they want to hear from us. This does not mean that tomorrow Facebook and all the other tech companies are going to be welcoming to the Second Amendment and firearm related content. But, it’s a solid signal that the path to go behind the woodshed is being cleared if need be.