Logan Washburn writes for the Federalist about a U.S. senator’s recent warning.

America is facing an “existential threat” from a “vast censorship enterprise,” according to Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri.

“This vast censorship enterprise represents an existential threat to the American way of life,” Schmitt said in a statement to The Federalist. “Over the past decade, we’ve watched as a global system of government bureaucrats, shadowy NGOs, Big Tech companies, and far-left activist groups have worked hand-in-glove to censor Americans.”

The federal government’s anti-speech activities have been obvious for years — from censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop story to silencing concerns about the Covid-19 vaccine to targeting conservative media like The Federalist. But today, Schmitt published a thread on X illustrating how components of this vast censorship-industrial complex have been colluding to control public discourse.

“The censorship-industrial complex wasn’t built overnight. It’s been festering for years,” Schmitt posted to X. “But the Biden administration mobilized an unholy alliance of government power, taxpayer dollars, NGOs and Big Tech companies to build it into a global censorship powerhouse.”

“Seemingly every agency” participated in the censorship-industrial complex, Schmitt posted, including the CIA, DHS, FBI and NSA — and even USAID, FEMA, and the National Science Foundation. They operated as “one cohesive class,” with a “revolving door between the ‘public’ and ‘private’ spheres.”

While serving as Missouri attorney general in 2022, Schmitt filed a lawsuit — Murthy v. Missouri, originally Missouri v. Biden — alongside Louisiana’s now-Gov. Jeff Landry alleging former President Joe Biden’s administration collaborated with Big Tech companies to censor Americans’ speech online, violating the First Amendment. The Supreme Court returned the case to a lower court last fall, enabling Big Tech to continue colluding with government to censor speech online. A judge has since paused the litigation. …

… Schmitt told The Federalist he looks forward to “working with my colleagues in the Senate” and with President Donald Trump’s administration to “continue to bring this issue to light and finally put a stop to it.”