Tipsheet

As the Left Whines About Kimmel, Don't Forget How the Media Cheered Censorship, Especially During COVID

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  September 19, 2025 5:15 PM

While the Left continues to clutch pearls and rend their garments over Jimmy Kimmel's indefinite suspension from ABC, there was a time in the not-too-distant past when Democrats and their media allies cheered for and demanded censorship.

This thread is long, so we'll highlight the biggest offenders.

Let's start with CNN.

It's (D)ifferent when they do it.

As CNN explained at the time:

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The WHO defines an infodemic as “an overabundance of information — some accurate and some not — that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it.” The problem is aided by the ease and speed with which false or misleading information can spread on social media.

...

In an effort to help people sort through the sometimes overwhelming amount of information online, Kuzmanovic said the organization is working directly with social media companies to ensure users are directed to trusted sources. Now, when social media users on a number of platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, search for “coronavirus,” they are directed first to information from either the WHO, the Centers for Disease Control or their national health ministry.

The WHO is also working to produce information in a range of languages as the outbreak spreads around the world.

But as digital misinformation campaigns become increasingly sophisticated, the WHO and other world health officials should be doing more, said Seema Yasmin, director of the Stanford Health Communication Initiative and a former officer with the Centers for Disease Control’s Epidemic Intelligence Service.

So some censorship is okay.

In the X post, Stelter bragged, "This just in from Facebook: "From April through June, we removed over 7 million pieces of harmful COVID-19 misinformation from Facebook and Instagram." For example, posts about fake preventative measures. Fact-check labels were placed on another 98 million pieces of Covid misinfo."

When advocating for the censorship of Fox News, Stelter said, "Reducing a liar’s reach is not the same as censoring freedom of speech; freedom of speech is different than freedom of reach."

That also applies to Jimmy Kimmel.

It's (D)ifferent when they do it.

Of course he did.

We told you about Schumer's "outrage" yesterday.

As FCC Chair Brendan Carr said, the decision to remove Kimmel from the air had nothing to do with the FCC and everything to do with local stations deciding not to affiliate with the likes of Kimmel any longer. On top of that, it's been reported that ABC execs wanted Kimmel to apologize for his remarks about Charlie Kirk and Kimmel refused, instead vowing to double down in an anti-MAGA opening monologue.