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Here is the Heritage Take on the top issues today. Please reply to this email to arrange an interview.
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- Yesterday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Murthy v. Missouri, a case concerning the government’s ability to instruct social media companies to censor certain content on their platforms.
- The arguments highlighted a troubling reality: Dominant tech platforms, government entities, and publicly funded organizations worked hand-in-glove to censor and manipulate public discourse around COVID-19 and the 2020 election.
- Ultimately, Big Tech’s vast unchecked power over what we see and say online must be addressed. As the 2024 election approaches, courts and policymakers must act to prevent both Big Tech and big government from undermining differing political voices and ideas.
- The lower courts rightly understood that it is too dangerous to allow the Executive Branch to bribe or coerce platforms that have become the nation’s public square. In Murthy, the Supreme Court should affirm the lower courts and, by extension, affirm that there are hard limits on the federal government’s ability to manipulate public discourse.
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- China, North Korea, and Russia each pose a significant threat to regional stability, cybersecurity, and the international financial system.
- For that reason alone, Indo-Pacific and European nations should enhance their own defenses and coalesce with other like-minded democracies to develop more effective multilateral responses.
- While they do not have a formal alliance, China and Russia have a mutually beneficial marriage of convenience based on a converging alignment of strategic interests and objectives.
- Much work remains ahead for the United States, South Korea, and Japan to embed current and future progress against potential reversals by future administrations.
- While a firm military and security response is the most immediate need, Indo-Pacific and European nations should also accelerate efforts to reduce their energy and financial reliance on Russia and China to minimize either nation’s ability to coerce and intimidate its trading partners.
- This requires dedicated multilateral efforts to develop alternative raw material suppliers and manufactured goods producers.
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- In May, Taiwan will inaugurate a new president.
- Current vice president Lai Ching-te’s victory in the January election met with strong approval in Washington, but many harbor concerns about the president-elect's history of pro-independence rhetoric.
- Beijing deeply distrusts Lai and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and will continue to use military, economic, and diplomatic pressure to constrain and delegitimize his leadership.
- China's military provocations will continue to destabilize the region, and the risk of escalation will remain ever-present.
- U.S. officials will be best served working hand in hand with Taipei as both seek to preserve Taiwan's de facto sovereignty.
- This requires beefing up Taipei's defenses while also managing tensions with Beijing.
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