By Brian Trusdell  From Newsmax

 

Social media users came to the defense of Newsmax after CNN and its commentators openly called for Newsmax and other conservative television outlets to be virtually thrown off the air.

Decrying what they see as a new fascism, socialism, and even the totalitarian theme of the novel George Orwell’s “1984,” Twitter users slammed CNN’s call for censorship of Newsmax.

Newsmax noted that CNN is clearly worried about the network’s rise, as it has become the 4^th highest-rated cable news channel in the U.S.

Fox News contributor Lisa Boothe condemned CNN reporter Oliver Darcy’s Twitter post, which referred to claims of “election denialism” and insinuating Verizon FiOS, AT&T (which owns CNN), and Comcast should remove Newsmax from their cable systems.

“Oliver, this is just wrong to try to get them shut down. What kind of totalitarian society are you cheering on?” Boothe wrote onTwitter. “CNN recently had to settle a big lawsuit for getting the facts wrong. Is this really a fair game to play?”

Darcy on Jan. 8 blamed conservative media for instigating the protests at the U.S. Capitol.

“After all, it was the very lies that Fox, Newsmax, and OAN spread that helped prime President Trump’s supporters into not believing the truth: That he lost an honest and fair election,” Darcy wrote.

That was followed on Sunday by Facebook’s former chief security officer, Alex Stamos, appearing on CNN on Sunday calling for Newsmax’s shutdown by major cable operators.

Trump senior adviser Jason Miller only had one word for the sentiment: “Insane.”

Former DNI Secretary Ric Grenell slammed the media hypocrisy: “You know what’s dangerous for a democracy? Reporters who pretend to be unbiased but are partisan advocates. It is gasoline to a fire.”

Grenell continued: “CNN’s Darcy helps lead the new Intolerance Mob. These safe spacers attack diversity. They think different voices are dangerous. They’ve convinced themselves that they are doing good by canceling non-conformers. But diversity and tolerance are American values.”

Author and Washington Times columnist Tim Carney openly questioned whether the remarks violating monopoly law.

“CNN exerting pressure on carriers to drop a competitor or two: Is this an anti-trust violation?” he wrote.

Even some liberals were shocked by CNN’s censorship calls. For example, Glenn Greenwald noted the double-standard: “In that [CNN] clip  the CNN & Facebook censors are deeply worried that people who consume conservative media never hear anything that challenges their assumptions or views. When is the last time – outside an occasional Jake Tapper segment – Dems hear anything on CNN that does that? Here’s a former Facebook executive on CNN *explicitly urging that the same tactics that were used in cooperation with the US security state to remove ISIS from the internet now be used against “conservative influencers,” to deprogram everyone to believe the CNN/liberal consensus.”

While many others showed video clips of Joseph Stalin and asked about when CNN was going to begin distributing armbands, others were more direct.

“More Nazi style censorship from the Left,” one user wrote.

Some simply saw the issues as CNN being commercially defeated and was looking to have its competition eliminated.

“Well if you can beat them in ratings and viewership, have them eliminated,” one person wrote.

Fitness company entrepreneur Marc Lobliner had a similar take.

“The folks at @CNN are just mad that independent producers are crushing them in ratings,” he wrote.

A man who identified himself as a New York attorney suggested that if CNN was successful, the “deplatforming” wouldn’t stop.

“In case anyone was wondering, this is exactly the kind of ignorant thought that permeates the loony left,” Brian Halloran wrote. “Next, eliminate the NY Post, the Washington Times and all other print media that dares to question Left policy and thought. This is why we fight.”

For more on this story go to NEWSMAX