Rupert Murdoch on Wednesday criticized Big Tech’s censorship of diverse opinions.

In remarks to shareholders of News Corp., which owns the New York Post among other publishers, Murdoch attacked Facebook and Google for censoring Tories.

“For many years, our company has led the global debate on Big Digital. What we have seen in the last few weeks on the practices of Facebook and Google surely reinforces the need for significant reform, ”said the executive chairman of News Corp. “There’s no question that Facebook employees are trying to silence conservative voices, and a quick Google News search on most contemporary topics often reveals a similar pattern of selectivity – or, to be frank, censorship. ”

The Post was gagged last year when Twitter closed its account over a story about President Biden’s son Hunter’s business dealings, and his efforts to monetize his family connections in China.

Robert Thomson, CEO of News Corp., said the company opposes “the cancellation of culture designed to silence diverse voices.”

“As Rupert mentioned, there is obvious censorship, as experienced in the New York Post, and the more subtle institutionalized censorship in Big Digital,” he said. “It is a confluence of the institutional, the technological, the social and the political, and it is important that we stand firm against this morbid movement of mute. ”

Cries to curb Big Tech’s business practices have recently come to a head. Last month, a new version of a lawsuit brought by a Texas-led group of states against Google said the web search giant controlled major brokerage firms on both the buy side and the side. sales in the online advertising market, and takes a 22% to 42% reduction in US ad spend that passes through its systems.

The lawsuit also contained details of an alleged conspiracy between Google and Facebook to preserve Google’s dominant position in the online advertising space.

Court documents said Google had entered into “an illegal deal” to give Facebook “information, speed and other benefits” in advertising auctions run by Google in exchange for the social network’s withdrawal from competitive threats against it. ‘business.

Murdoch called the “collusion” between the two companies over advertising technology, as noted in the lawsuit, “extraordinary.”

“Let’s be very clear about the consequences of this manipulation of the digital advertising market: Obviously, publishers have been materially damaged, but businesses have also been overcharged for their advertising and therefore consumers have paid too much for the products.” , did he declare.

Murdoch added that there is a “fundamental need for algorithmic transparency” on the part of the tech giants.

“Algorithms are subjective and they can be manipulated by people to kill competition and harm other people, publishers and businesses,” Murdoch said.

“The falsely promoted idea by platforms that algorithms are somehow objective and uniquely scientific is complete nonsense,” he said. “Algorithms are subjective and they can be manipulated by people to kill competition and harm other people, publishers and businesses.”

Murdoch has been a strong advocate for news publishers paid by Google and Facebook for their stories. Earlier this year, Murdoch led the charge, pushing tech giants to pay News Corp. and other publishers for their articles in Australia, after a new law was passed there.

Outspoken GOP lawmakers like California Minority Parliamentary Leader Kevin McCarthy recently signaled their support for anti-Big Tech measures, as a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a bill to smash Big Tech , giving behemoths like Amazon, Google and Facebook less monopoly on advertising, e-commerce and search.

McCarthy accused Facebook of “acting like a Democratic super PAC” and said via Twitter, “A Republican majority in the House will control the great technological power over our speech.”

“Break them” tweeted Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a staunch Trump ally and top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, when Facebook’s oversight committee announced its decision to ban the former president.

Representative Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Who heads the Conservative Republican Study Board, wrote, “If Facebook is so big that it thinks it can silence the leaders you elect, it’s time the Conservatives pursued an antitrust agenda.”