Freedom of opinion in the UK has never been more at risk, with attacks coming in thick and fast from both Big Tech sites like Twitter and the British government itself, GETTR Chief Executive Officer Jason Miller warned in an Express UK op-ed after media regulator Ofcom announced it was investigating GB News.
 
The decision by Ofcom to open a probe after GB News presenter Mark Steyn spoke out against the side effects of Covid-19 booster is part of a deeply corrosive onslaught against public debate and a diversity of opinion.
 
“Whatever your views of these vaccines are, it is surely important for the members of any democratic society to be able to discuss and debate matters like this one without having to face accusations of ‘misinformation.’ Or are we really saying that Steyn is not entitled to his own carefully researched outlook?” Miller wrote.
 
“These days, setting out an opinion that some people perceive as ‘alternative’ can lead to all sorts of trouble. Twitter is a prime example of a private firm which has excluded professional users for saying things that don’t toe its official line. The respected physician Dr Robert Malone was banned from the site for ‘spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to Covid-19.’ It seems diversity in every sphere is encouraged nowadays – apart from diversity of thought, that is.”
 

[Read the full op-ed here]

 
“Forgive me for being old fashioned, but I take a different view. I believe that it is positive to expose people to ideas which may spark a robust public debate. I can't think of any society in history that has ever benefited from clamping down on the press and on journalism,” he added.
 
Today, GETTR boasts nearly 6 million users in 192 different countries. The platform, which defends freedom of expression from cancel culture and censorship, has reached 160 million livestream views since launching the technology in October, while Vision, GETTR’s short-video platform which launched in June to challenge TikTok and Instagram Reels, is at 3 million views and counting. Earlier this month, the platform also released Direct Message for all of its users.
 
GETTR remains the fastest growing social media platform in history, having marked its first million users less than three days after its formal launch on July 4, 2021. By comparison, Twitter took 24 months to attract one million users while Facebook took 10 months and even Instagram still took 3 months.