Breaking: Google Pulls PragerU from Play Store in Latest Big Tech Move
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In this article, author C. Douglas Golden discusses an incident where the conservative media outlet PragerU had their app briefly taken down from the Google Play store due to a documentary that Google deemed as promoting hate speech. The documentary, titled “Dear Infidels: A Warning to America,” talks about the rise of anti-American rhetoric and violence promoted by radical Islamist groups. Google eventually reinstated the app, but the incident sparked backlash from conservatives who see it as an act of censorship. This is not the first time PragerU has faced pushback from big tech companies, and the author suggests that this highlights the ongoing struggle between conservative media and Silicon Valley. The author also mentions a fundraising opportunity for PragerU and urges readers to support the outlet’s mission.
By C. Douglas Golden June 8, 2024 at 5:52am
Just in case you were wondering whether Big Tech was still salty over the popularity of conservative media, Google stepped in to remind us yet again of how qualified our freedom of speech is at the hands of Silicon Valley progressives.
According to Breitbart, Google briefly took down the PragerU app from the Google Play store over one of the outlet’s documentaries, which dared to point out that radical Islamism isn’t particularly swell.
“Dear Infidels: A Warning to America,” a 21-minute film, argued that the “rise of anti-American rhetoric and violence in cities and universities is a direct result of the indoctrination led by those perpetrating a religious war against the West,” according to PragerU’s website.
The documentary contains interviews with former Navy SEALs, Arab-Israelis and Palestinians who escaped the repressive ideology of Hamas and other Islamist groups.
That, according to Google, was enough to get PragerU’s app axed thanks to “hate speech” concerns.
“We don’t allow apps that promote violence, or incite hatred against individuals or groups based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or any other characteristic that is associated with systemic discrimination or marginalization,” the tech giant said in a letter to PragerU posted by the short-form video outlet on its X account.
BREAKING: @Google removes PragerU app from Play Store for “Hate Speech.”
Help us fight back: https://t.co/LLsc0JruVL pic.twitter.com/R4o1haL2CL
— PragerU (@prageru) June 7, 2024
“According to Google, sharing the stories of a former Palestinian refugee, an Arab Muslim born in Israel, and brave U.S. Navy SEALs who witnessed the horrors of Muslim extremism constitutes ‘hate speech,’” PragerU said in a statement posted to the outlet’s website.
Does the left hate free speech?
“This is a blatant attempt to silence truth and censor speech. We urgently need your help to fight back against this suppression.”
PragerU, founded by radio icon Dennis Prager, puts out short-form video content from a conservative viewpoint. The outlet asked for donations to “help us counter these attacks, expand our reach on other platforms, and continue our mission to educate and inspire Americans with the truth.”
Help us fight back 👇
https://t.co/c0oVzT8MN2— PragerU (@prageru) June 7, 2024
Not only was the ban a plum fundraising opportunity, it also created plenty of social media backlash:
Conservatives are being targeted by Big Tech, there’s no doubt about it. @Google just banned the @prageru app from their app store for “hate speech.” Fight back against this. https://t.co/m6tuicXCMG pic.twitter.com/218KqgYAX9
— Nick Short (@PoliticalShort) June 7, 2024
This should scare all of us. Its tyranny. @Google just banned PragerU’s app from their app store as a clear act of censorship. Our freedom of speech has never been more in jeopardy, and we have to take down the tyrants of Big Tech!
Please join PragerU in the fight!… pic.twitter.com/rjJZXUE6zX
— Kambree (@KamVTV) June 7, 2024
Apparently, the folks at Google are either too young or too old to have heard of the Streisand effect — the axiom that the more one tries to deflect attention from something online by trying to get it removed or stifled, the more attention it ends up getting.
Most conservatives on social media probably hadn’t even heard of this documentary before it got the PragerU app booted from the Google Play store. Now, it has over 1.1 million views on YouTube. And — what’d’ya know? — Google Play decided to reinstate the app later on Friday “after further re-review,” whatever that means.
Download the PragerU app on the Google Play store…while you still can!https://t.co/dsrVjBLVxG
— PragerU (@prageru) June 7, 2024
To a certain extent, this is one of those won’t-they-ever-learn? stories; Big Tech and the liberal media cracking down on PragerU is a story almost as old as PragerU itself. Dennis must be doing something right, if these are the enemies he’s making — and all they’re doing is shining an unintentional spotlight on his handiwork, drawing more viewers to it.
“Unfortunately, Google removing the PragerU app from the Play Store isn’t that surprising given their track record of restricting our videos for the past several years,” said Craig Strazzeri, chief marketing officer for PragerU.
“Google continues to demonstrate how powerful and dangerous they are by censoring ideas they don’t agree with. This is truly a David vs. Goliath battle. I think they expect us to just give up and not fight, but little do they know, we at PragerU refuse to be silenced,” he continued. “When it comes to fighting for the values and freedoms that have made this country great, we will never stop.”
However, for every success story like this one, there’s at least one — and probably more — example of Google, Meta, Apple and the like deliberately restricting the reach of conservative media and getting away with it scot-free. Let this be a reminder that the war will continue to rage against any source that dares contradict our Silicon Valley overlords. These are the real book-burners.
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