John Murphy. The COVID Long-haul Foundation<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s revealing how quickly self-proclaimed defenders of free speech abandon their principles once they gain institutional power. For years, a cohort of COVID contrarians claimed they were victims of censorship under the Biden administration\u2014allegations that were ultimately dismissed by the Supreme Court in Murthy v. Missouri<\/em>. Now, some of those same voices hold key positions in federal health agencies under Trump, and their actions suggest a very different relationship with free expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Vinay Prasad, now the FDA\u2019s top vaccine regulator, recently filed copyright complaints that led to the deletion of a YouTube channel run by Dr. Jonathan Howard, a neurologist and psychiatrist. Howard\u2019s channel had quietly amassed a library of over 350 clips documenting public statements by prominent medical figures\u2014many of whom now wield significant influence over national health policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Howard\u2019s goal was straightforward: preserve the public record. As he wrote in Science-Based Medicine<\/em>, \u201cWe need to remember their prior pronouncements to judge their current credibility.\u201d His channel wasn\u2019t monetized, had just 256 subscribers, and featured short clips used for commentary and critique\u2014classic fair use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Prasad objected. According to The Guardian<\/em>, he demanded the removal of six videos featuring himself. YouTube complied, citing copyright infringement, and deleted the entire channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This move is especially striking given Prasad\u2019s long-standing posture as a free speech advocate. He and others\u2014like Jay Bhattacharya, now head of the NIH\u2014spent years claiming they were censored for their views. Yet when faced with criticism, they\u2019ve turned to legal mechanisms to silence dissent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Howard, in contrast, responded with restraint and satire. He refused to dramatize the takedown, noting that his channel\u2019s reach was modest and joking that its deletion was \u201creally funny and pathetic\u201d given Prasad\u2019s apparent sensitivity. More importantly, Howard pointed out the selective nature of Prasad\u2019s enforcement: anti-vaccine accounts have freely shared the same clips without consequence. The issue wasn\u2019t copyright\u2014it was viewpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a textbook example of using copyright law to suppress criticism. Howard\u2019s use of the clips\u2014embedded in commentary and critique\u2014falls squarely within fair use. He\u2019s already begun reuploading content with added commentary to strengthen that legal position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the legal technicalities obscure the deeper issue: the weaponization of copyright by government officials to silence private citizens. It\u2019s a tactic cloaked in legitimacy but rooted in censorship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This isn\u2019t an isolated incident. Bhattacharya and RFK Jr.\u2014now Secretary of Health and Human Services\u2014have both filed lawsuits alleging censorship, despite their content merely being fact-checked or deprioritized by algorithms. Now in power, they\u2019re actively suppressing dissent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Howard sees the irony clearly: \u201cAmericans do not need our government\u2019s permission to remember their words.\u201d His new channel will continue documenting public statements, this time with added commentary to ensure legal protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The loudest voices decrying censorship often become its most enthusiastic practitioners once they hold power. The case of Dr. Prasad illustrates how quickly \u201cfree speech\u201d rhetoric can give way to silencing critics\u2014especially when those critics are preserving inconvenient truths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Howard\u2019s project remains vital. The public deserves transparency from those shaping health policy. And if officials fear scrutiny of their own words, perhaps the problem isn\u2019t the scrutiny\u2014it\u2019s the words themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" John Murphy. The COVID Long-haul Foundation It\u2019s revealing how quickly self-proclaimed defenders of free speech abandon their principles once they gain institutional power. For years, a cohort of COVID contrarians […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1332,761,445,607],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-censorship","category-concerns","category-policies-politics","category-vaccine-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13345"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13347,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13345\/revisions\/13347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cov19longhaulfoundation.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The YouTube Takedown<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Hypocrisy in Action<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Copyright as a Censorship Tool<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A Broader Pattern<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Takeaway<\/h3>\n\n\n\n