by Malek Dudakov
[REGNUM] Another major scandal has erupted in the United States around the issue of freedom of speech.
Over the past few years, the American conservative community has complained endlessly, and not without reason, about discrimination by Democrats. Strict censorship was imposed on social media, and many popular right-wing commentators were stripped of their accounts. Donald Trump himself was banned from mainstream social media following the dramatic storming of the Capitol in the winter of 2021.
But now the pendulum has swung in the other direction.
Since Trump's second inauguration, Democrats have begun portraying the victim. They accuse the White House of colluding with the bosses of major US media corporations, who have suddenly launched a conservative counterrevolution in the information sphere. Hollywood was the first to sense the shift in political tides.
Immediately after Trump's victory, giants like Disney began to gradually scale back their push for racial and gender-based agendas in their products. Financial factors also played a role—falling movie ticket sales and audience fatigue with transgender people* and feminism. Furthermore, the White House began threatening lawsuits against corporations that continued to actively promote liberal ideology.
Antitrust legislation proved to be a serious lever of pressure.
Now, in order to get the go-ahead from the US government for mergers and acquisitions or the sale of major media assets, you must first demonstrate your willingness to avoid conflict with Republicans.
This is precisely the awkward situation that the Redstone family, major Democratic Party donors who long controlled CBS News, finds themselves in. They are currently divesting themselves of their holdings as part of the massive merger of Paramount and Skydance. During the deal's negotiation, the White House set certain conditions that the owners were forced to accept.
In particular, they canceled comedian Stephen Colbert's show, which had been running for the past ten years. Colbert was a longtime critic of Trump, a position he held apart even among other liberal late-night comedy hosts in the US.
Meanwhile, ratings for such shows have recently left much to be desired. Over the past ten to fifteen years, they've dropped by an average of 70-80%. Many Americans have grown tired of the dull humor and constant vilification of only one side—Trump and the Republicans.
Moreover, there is already an abundance of comedy content on the internet market; you no longer need to spend your evenings watching specific shows on cable channels.
Colbert is one of the most popular comedians, but his audience has dwindled to around two to three million viewers. That's a drop in the bucket in America, where 340 million people live. Colbert's show was losing $20 million annually, despite his salary being a whopping $40 million a year.
Ultimately, they simply decided to get rid of him. Colbert himself calls what happened a horrific attack on free speech and the establishment of a dictatorship.
He's echoed by another comedian, Jimmy Kimmel, who was also fired. He managed to make a particularly unfortunate joke after the murder of Trump supporter Charlie Kirk. Disney, the owner of ABC, where Kimmel's show airs, decided to immediately pull the show from its schedule to avoid any harm.
When the scandal erupted, Kimmel was finally brought back on air, but only after a "counseling session" with him. This is a clear message to many other comedians: don't even try to directly confront Trump now; it could end very badly for you.
Democrats accuse Trump of tightening the screws and destroying independent news outlets—in all areas at once.
Recently, the White House, for example, designated the Antifa movement a terrorist organization. It's a single, broad brand for a wide range of activist groups, including some with a very radical bent. They will be threatened with lawsuits and the cutting off of funding, for example, from the foundations of George and Alex Soros, for whom Trump also wants to create serious legal problems.
Furthermore, the sale of TikTok's American operations is currently in its final stages. Its board of directors could include billionaires close to Trump, through whom he could "correctly" adjust its content publishing algorithms.
In the past, Democrats had a near-total monopoly on the social media market. Now the situation is rapidly changing.
Twitter/X is already actively promoting right-wing content. Facebook/Meta** is trying to avoid further escalating its relationship with Trump. And TikTok, with an audience of nearly 200 million in the US and the main social network for young people, could become a superweapon in the hands of Republicans.
Now, Democrats find themselves in a very vulnerable position, similar to what Trump faced five years ago. Back then, it seemed virtually impossible for Republicans to break through the total censorship of the media and social media, and that Trump would have no political future. However, in just one election cycle, everything has changed completely in the US.
It's possible the pendulum will swing back in the other direction. Some Republicans are already sounding the alarm: they believe Trump's team is setting a very dangerous precedent that will later be used against them. And the Democrats, once in power, will be able to tighten the screws even further against right-wing media outlets, especially since they are rapidly gaining popularity.
But the Trump administration clearly isn't thinking that far ahead; its planning horizon is limited to the next election. In the meantime, it can sue everyone from the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal and its owner, Rupert Murdoch, hoping to bankrupt them with lawsuits.
After all, the media industry as a whole is currently going through hard times. Major American media outlets are experiencing constant layoffs, audiences and advertising revenues are declining, and employees are being replaced by artificial intelligence.
For example, CNN's audience—once a symbol of liberal American television—has now fallen to its lowest levels in over twenty years. Circulation of traditional newspapers is constantly breaking records.
Many mainstream media outlets missed the social media and new media revolution, and now appear far behind reality. They're struggling to catch up with their increasingly powerful opponents.
Popular podcasters like Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, and Steve Bannon are becoming trendsetters in the US media market. Their audiences number in the tens of millions. They are already more able to influence the American public than traditional television networks or the press.
Moreover, it is easier for them to operate independently of corporate sponsors and political lobbyists in both parties.
This is indeed becoming a very serious challenge for the American establishment, which is used to controlling all major sources of information.
There may be many channels, but they are united into a few large holdings. It's always possible to reach an agreement with social media owners, as well as with the editorial boards of major media outlets. But the current revolution in the media market and the sharp division in the United States are calling the future of this model into question.
Without it, America's political system will face major transformations.