The Heritage Foundation on Tuesday pledged to refuse funds from Big Tech companies “as long as they continue to suppress conservative viewpoints.”
Heritage, a public policy research institute, turned down a $225,000 donation from Google and returned a $150,000 donation from Facebook in October 2020.
“The Heritage Foundation will not in good conscience accept money from companies that repeatedly and blatantly attempt to silence conservative speech they don’t agree with,” outgoing foundation president Kay C. James said in a statement Tuesday.
“Every time a new case of censorship comes to light, these companies trot out excuses and promises to do better. Enough is enough,” she added. “I stand united with other conservative leaders against Big Tech’s censorship of conservative voices.”
“As you know, there is a growing momentum in Washington to rein in Google and other technology companies, either through antitrust action or changes in liability protections you enjoy,” James wrote at the time. “Heritage is in the midst of reviewing these proposals, and the last thing we need is for anyone to think that our conclusions have in any way been influenced by a relatively small donation from your company.”
She cited some recent incidents of censorship bias suffered by conservatives in her letter to Zuckerberg.
Big Tech companies have drawn intense scrutiny for perceived political bias and alleged unbalanced moderation of users’ content. Critics say much of the companies’ moderation in the past year has unfairly targeted conservative speech and speech from individuals deemed to be supporters of former President Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, groups on the other side of the aisle have been taking issue with how social media companies are operating, claiming that the Silicon Valley companies have failed to adequately address misinformation that is being proliferated online.
