On Friday, TikTok temporarily suspended the advertising account for the feature documentary Musk, directed by 1A Committee member Alex Gibney, just as the film entered wide release across North America. Oracle, the tech company owned by billionaire Trump ally Larry Ellison, leads a managing block of companies that own a 45% stake in TikTok.
TikTok restored the @muskdoc account on Sunday and a spokesperson called the account suspension “an error.” But paid social advertising is an essential tool to reach audiences in the first weekend of a theatrical release. Musk, a film that portrays a GOP megadonor and Big Tech more broadly in an unflattering light, underperformed expectations for its opening weekend in the wake of the suspension.
This comes on the same weekend that Meta temporarily suspended the Instagram account of the No Kings Coalition while No Kings Early Vote actions were taking place nationwide on Saturday. News also broke Friday that Meta restricted the accounts of Brazil’s incumbent left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the middle of their election.
“Once is an incident – twice is a pattern – three times in one weekend is a coordinated assault on political expression,” said Jane Fonda, founder of the Committee for the First Amendment. “In an era when the internet is the world’s primary source of news, it is astonishing that we allow tech billionaires to control so much of it. Attacks like these highlight the urgent need for structural reform. Future leaders must regulate these tech companies and treat the internet like a public utility. Until then, suppressing political dissent online may hide the smoke, but it does not put out the fire of public discontent.”
These incidents, like David Ellison’s actions at CBS News, show the dangerous effects of media capture. With the midterms only two weeks away, the public can expect to see more “errors” and efforts to throttle, confuse, and censor free speech and the free press. The Committee stands with our partners and members targeted by this government and its allies, and will continue fighting to ensure their voices are heard.
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