Arkansas A.G. Demands Answers on YouTube Censorship

Big Tech,

Last week, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin joined 15 other state attorneys general in a letter demanding that executives at Google and YouTube explain YouTube’s decision to censor conservative content.

The letter says that last September, YouTube’s parent company, Alphabet, Inc., publicly admitted that Senior Biden Administration officials “conducted repeated and sustained outreach to Alphabet and pressed the Company regarding certain user-generated content related to the COVID-19 pandemic that did not violate its policies.”

The letter also notes that YouTube removed video footage of gatherings and events posted by conservative organizations.

To ensure YouTube is complying with consumer protection laws, the letter asks YouTube’s executives a series of questions about how the platform reviews, moderates, and flags video content, and it requests documents showing how YouTube treated conservative video channels like The Daily Wire and CPAC.

Unfortunately, we have seen tech companies and other corporations censor conservatives on their platforms in recent years — and sometimes it seems like our own government is the one pushing the censorship.

In 2024, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote a letter to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee saying the Biden Administration “pressured” his teams to censor content related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

And congressional testimony and news stories have highlighted how federal officials allegedly pressured financial institutions to cancel bank accounts and suspend financial services for conservative organizations.

We deeply appreciate Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin joining with his colleagues in holding tech companies accountable.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Racing Commission Approves FanDuel, DraftKings to Partner with Arkansas Casinos

Gambling,

On Thursday the Arkansas Racing Commission approved sports betting license applications by FanDuel and DraftKings.

DraftKings reportedly will partner with Southland Casino in West Memphis, and FanDuel will partner with Oaklawn Casino in Hot Springs.

Nationwide, sports betting is now legal in 39 states, and in Arkansas people wager an average of nearly $1.8 million on it every day. But a growing body of evidence shows sports betting is harmful — and that Internet sports betting is especially destructive.

Studies indicate people who gamble on sports may be twice as likely to suffer from gambling problems. When sports gambling happens online, the rate is even higher.

A study by Northwestern University found that for every dollar spent on sports betting, household investment falls by an average of $2. Researchers at UCLA estimate that online sportsbooks are linked to an increase of roughly 30,000 more bankruptcies per year nationwide.

Some online sportsbooks have actually produced advertisements that seem to promote compulsive gambling and other problem-gambling behavior.

In 2023, FanDuel released one commercial that showed people so focused on sports betting that they ignored everyone else around them.

Another ad promoted taking advantage of every opportunity to gamble.

In 2024, FanDuel aired commercials encouraging people to gamble on “surprising” hunches — including powerful hunches that strike between football plays.

More recent commercials advertise “playoff mode” with promotional offers such as $300 in “bonus bets.”

Gamblers who ignore loved ones, wager nonstop, or place bets “on a hunch” quite possibly suffer from gambling addiction, and high-end promotional offers may appeal to people who struggle with gambling problems.

Sports betting is out of control. It’s corrupting sports, and it’s ruining lives.

Tax revenue from gambling has not improved Arkansas’ roads or boosted the economy. As powerful corporations try to make gambling part of everyday life, it’s important for Arkansas to protect its citizens and families from predatory gambling.

Otherwise gambling addiction will simply continue wrecking lives and hurting families in our state.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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New York Times Finally Admits America Has “a Marijuana Problem”

Marijuana

The editorial board at The New York Times recently published a stunning admission titled, “It’s Time for America to Admit That It Has a Marijuana Problem.”

The editorial column acknowledges that widespread marijuana use has created serious public health and safety concerns across the country. Along the way, oversight and regulation have failed in states that have legalized marijuana.

The editors acknowledge that they supported legalization in 2014, writing:

At the time, supporters of legalization predicted that it would bring few downsides. In our editorials, we described marijuana addiction and dependence as “relatively minor problems.” Many advocates went further and claimed that marijuana was a harmless drug that might even bring net health benefits. They also said that legalization might not lead to greater use.

It is now clear that many of these predictions were wrong.

As the editors point out, the numbers tell a sobering story. About 18 million Americans now use marijuana almost daily — that’s triple the number from just over a decade ago. If these frequent users formed their own state, it would be nearly six times the population of Arkansas.

Yale reports roughly 30% of current cannabis users now meet the criteria for addiction. Researchers writing in JAMA found nearly one in three “medical” marijuana users may suffer from cannabis use disorder.

THC — the main psychoactive substance in marijuana — has been tied to everything from heart disease and cancer to stroke, mental illness, and birth defects.

In fact, researchers now say marijuana use doubles a person’s risk of death from heart disease.

And contrary to popular belief, legalization in other states has actually emboldened drug cartels and increased the flow of illegal drugs across the country.

It’s good to see The New York Times finally acknowledge that America has a marijuana problem.

All of this underscores what we have said for years: Marijuana may be many things, but “harmless” simply is not one of them.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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