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September 30, 2022 - 3:00pm
In October 2020, the Great Barrington Declaration was published by three academics — Jay Bhattacharya, Sunetra Gupta and Martin Kulldorff — who appeared on UnHerd to break the story. It marked a watershed moment in the pandemic, but the authors found their criticisms of Covid policy were increasingly censored on social media.
Now, alongside Martin Kulldorff and two other doctors, Bhattacharya is taking his case to the courts to prove collusion between the Biden administration and Big Tech to silence the signatories of the Great Barrington Declaration. Talking to UnHerd’s Freddie Sayers, he lays out the evidence that social media companies were instructed to quell scientific views which opposed government lockdown measures. Who was responsible for this infringement? According to the legal case, the conspiracy extends to the highest levels of power in Washington, and primarily at fault is the Chief Medical Advisor to the President, Anthony Fauci.
‘Yesterday’s “misinformation”’, the lawsuit reads, ‘often becomes today’s viable theory and tomorrow’s established fact.’ A coordinated response to material deemed Covid ‘misinformation’, the legal team at the New Civil Liberties Alliance argue, came at the cost of scientific rigour.
Bhattacharya tells UnHerd that “there was a debate going on inside the scientific community, and Tony Fauci and the federal government of the United States could not abide that […] because they implemented an extraordinary policy that required absolute consensus.” Further, they “suppressed and censored and smeared” any reasoned but critical voices through social media and the mainstream press. Bhattacharya stresses, “My primary motivation here is to recreate or maybe regain an environment where active scientific work can happen.”
Joining Bhattacharya was Jenin Younes, a lawyer involved in the case now developing in a federal district court, but which looks likely to eventually reach the Supreme Court. Younes condemns the online censorship which resulted from governmental overreach, saying, “If you lose your Twitter account, for many people you’re losing your voice and the ability to influence public opinion.”
Citing the constitution, she adds, “The First Amendment is pretty clear that the government can’t censor people based on their viewpoints”, yet President Biden, Fauci and then-Press Secretary Jennifer Psaki made numerous public statements calling for tech companies to do more to stamp out any interrogation of federal pandemic management.”
Watch as Younes and Bhattacharya make their case for this potentially historic lawsuit.
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SubscribeMuch respect to Professor Bhattacharya. I have no doubt he paid, and continues to pay, a heavy professional price for his courage by speaking up about this issue.
I’m sure Prof. Bhattacharya and his attorneys are fully aware they’re taking on the federal government and a decision in their favor could embarrass a lot of powerful people. I also believe that the major social media companies are quietly working against them in the background. They have an enormous task ahead of them and I hope they succeed.
This is absolutely fantastic news. Well done to all involved.
……. and if successful, hopefully the next target will be climate change scientific research and debate. Fingers crossed.
Like Dr Bhattachayra Dr Malhotra has data on his side watch and read:
Dr. Aseem Malhotra’s Peer-Reviewed Paper Calls for Suspension of Covid-19 Vaccine (worldcouncilforhealth.org)
He said:
“I was wilfully blind, certainly in relation to the vaccine and the harms, until I wasn’t. And that’s why it’s crucial that we tackle this both with compassion (and the facts) because there are many people who are still wilfully blind. “
When Dr. Malholtra argued against vaccine mandates, the Chair of the BMA had a conversation with him and said, “I can tell you one thing, most of the people — certainly in health policy that I know — and this may include the chief medical officer, I don’t think they’re critically appraising the evidence in the way you are.”
Another interesting finding from Dr. John Ioannidis is that “The greater the financial and other interests and prejudices in a scientific field, the less likely the research findings are to be true.”
There are many others who agree:
“It is no longer possible to trust much of the clinical research that is published or to rely on the judgement of trusted physicians or authoritative medical guidelines. I take no pleasure in this conclusion, which I reached slowly and reluctantly over my two decades as an editor fo the New England Journal of Medicine.” — Dr. Marcia Angell former editor New England Journal medicine
Freddie
Great interview.
Please get the Swedish epidemiologist on again whom you had on twice (?) before and was asked quizzed over the Swedish approach viz a viz elsewhere.
Thanks.
Professor Bhattacharya is really an outstanding person. Hopes all goes well in his journey.
Good luck to the professor and his legal team. The Federal Government of the US needs to get a bloody nose for the lockdown. Fachi belongs in jail. Biden. Trudeau and any leader that had “vaccine” mandates must forced to recant and resign.
Too many people I know got badly hurt and many lost their lives though being forced to isolate.
I must confess, I am still extremely angry and would like to see some real justice metered out.
My wife and I are not Scientists, but we were horrified by the lockdown in 2020 so when the GBD was published we signed it immediately and thanked God that some sense was finally being talked. Unfortunately, as we now know, powerful forces had other goals. Our thanks go to Professor Bhattacharya and his co signatories and we wish them every success in the courts. Every right thinking person has to believe you will succeed.
So happy to finally feel the pendulum being pushed back in the right direction. And so stoked that Dr. Bhattacharya is the keynote speaker at our freespeechinmedicine.com conference In Nova Scotia, Canada at end of October! I hope some of you UnHerd folks can come.
Great interview. The Covid MSM narrative should be collapsing. Dr Aseem Malhotra, who was one of the earliest people to get vaccinated has done a complete about turn
Watch
https://vigilantfox.substack.com/p/former-vaccine-advocate-dr-aseem?publication_id=975571&isFreemail=true
Former Vaccine Advocate Dr. Aseem Malhotra Exposes the Pharma-Corrupted State of Medicine in Masterful Presentation (substack.com)
Former Vaccine Advocate Dr. Aseem Malhotra Exposes the Pharma-Corrupted State of Medicine in Masterful Presentation“What’s the overall net effect of the pharmaceutical industry? Certainly in the last few decades, it’s very clear, it’s been negative.”
Superb effort by these principled people, I applaud their commitment to setting society straight again
Thank, you Professor Bhattacharya, as well as your colleagues and your legal team.
I tried to list other names and views from top scientists and Doctors – but naturally am awaiting for approval……..I will be curious to see if I get it.
Well done Unherd and Dr Jay. It’s time to stop this terrifying phenomenon of the silencing of debate, the control of information.
Let’s hope even if they fail, the noise created will open a few more eyes.
The truth will out.
Thanks a lot for this great interview.
Censorship is still going on… especially on Linkedin.
Respect to Professors Bhattacharya and Kulldorf, and to Jenin Younes.
Best wishes of success to them !
Jay Battacharia is an absolute American hero for standing up to the establishment with the critique of lockdown measures.
My big question is why is nobody going after the Trump administration as well? This all happened under his watch, at least until January 2021. While there seems to have been significant collusion to limit his control of the pandemic response, and of course leverage it against him in the election, he was still at the helm when the GBD was released and initially suppressed, along with plenty of other “misinformation” (i.e. Hunter Biden).
The point is, I want everybody to go down for this, I voted for Trump and would again with the current status of the DNC but he is still culpable for the absolute catastrophe of US (and global) COVID response.
“Bhattacharya was a lead author of a serology study released in April which suggested that as many as 80,000 residents of Santa Clara County, California might have already been infected with COVID-19.[7] The study and conduct of the research drew wide criticism for statistical and methodological errors and apparent lack of disclosure of conflicts.[8][9] The study was later revealed to have received undisclosed funding from JetBlue founder David Neeleman, according to an anonymous whistle blower.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Bhattacharya.
Jenin Younes makes a good case. Trouble is there is so far no evidence of actual compulsion. The only evidence is pressure, and pressure alone doesn’t make the case for state action.
In short, the social media companies are the ones doing the censoring, not the government.
Jenin Younes makes a good case. Trouble is there is so far no evidence of actual compulsion. The only evidence is pressure, and pressure alone doesn’t make the case for state action.
In short, the social media companies are the ones doing the censoring, not the government.