Pfeiffer: Canceling Jimmy Kimmel is Just One Piece of Trump's Broad Attack on Free Speech

Breaking down the ways and mean by MAGA extremists are consolidating power and control over legacy news outlets and social media platforms alike.

By Dan Pfeiffer /Message Box

One of the necessary conditions for an authoritarian takeover is control of the media. It’s a critical step to quash dissent—turning a free press designed to hold power accountable into a propaganda organ that amplifies the state’s message.

That could never happen here, right? Not with our long tradition of a vibrant, free media?

Well, the MAGA Right is on the verge of controlling the vast majority of the American media ecosystem.

A dynamic highlighted by the fact that Disney announced it was bowing to pressure from the Trump Administration and pulling Jimmy Kimmel off the air indefinitely because of comments he made about Charlie Kirk.

But it gets worse … Let me explain:

The TikTok power grab. Earlier this week, Donald Trump once again suspended enforcement of the TikTok ban. It’s easy to forget, but in 2024, Congress—in a rare bipartisan action—voted to ban TikTok in the United States.

President Biden signed the ban into law. The legislation required TikTok to be sold to a non-Chinese entity or removed from app stores. Since taking office, Trump has repeatedly delayed enforcement while searching for a U.S. buyer.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. government is on the cusp of a deal that would give American investors majority control of TikTok. The agreement, expected as part of broader trade negotiations with China, reportedly looks like this:

• TikTok’s U.S. business would be controlled by a consortium including Oracle, Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz.

• A new U.S. entity would operate the app, with American investors holding about 80% of the stake.

• The company’s board would be dominated by Americans, with one seat designated by the U.S. government.

Silver Lake is a Silicon Valley private equity firm. Oracle is the tech giant run by Larry Ellison—one of the richest men in the world and a major Trump supporter. Andreessen Horowitz is a massive venture capital firm led by Marc Andreessen, another vocal Trump ally.

If this deal closes, the fastest-growing social media platform—and a primary news source for younger Americans—will fall under the control of Trump’s allies.

This is a very alarming development.

The danger of TikTok’s algorithm. You may think this sounds paranoid. But whoever controls an algorithm-driven social media platform wields immense influence.

The original TikTok ban was driven by fears that the Chinese government was manipulating the algorithm to shape American opinion before the election. Now, that same powerful algorithm could be in the hands of people financially and politically incentivized to root for Trump and the MAGA movement.

What’s happened at Twitter/X under Elon Musk is a clear warning. Since taking over, Musk has tilted the platform hard to the right. The algorithm now amplifies MAGA voices and sidelines traditional news sources. It’s simple: Elon supports Trump, Elon owns X, and X promotes pro-MAGA content.

Why wouldn’t we expect the same from TikTok if Trump’s allies take control?

MAGA’s social media empire. Social media is how millions of Americans consume news. It shapes culture and the political environment in powerful ways. After the TikTok deal, nearly all major platforms will be controlled by Trump-friendly billionaires.

• Musk owns Twitter/X.

• Mark Zuckerberg has grown increasingly pro-Trump. He donated heavily to Trump’s inaugural and shifted Meta’s policies to curry favor. Meta controls Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

• Now Trump allies are poised to take TikTok.

Look at this chart based on Pew Research data to see which platforms are MAGA-aligned and how many Americans they reach.

And to be clear, the rest of the platforms aren’t exactly bastions of pro-democracy thought. At best, they’re ideologically neutral.

Social media—the distribution pipes of information—is falling under the thumb of MAGA.

The Press is folding, too. During Trump’s first term, the press positioned itself as his foil. Trump called them “fake news,” and outlets leaned into their role as defenders of democracy. It was good for business—liberals subscribed in droves to the Times, Post, CNN, and MSNBC.

This time is different.

Many outlets seem more interested in accommodating Trump than holding him accountable. Some of that is cowardice—ABC News pulled Kimmel off the air for a factual after being threatened by the FCC Chairman. Early this year, they settled a frivolous defamation suit because Disney didn’t want to anger Trump. Time and again, the corporate media would rather surrender than fight for their First Amendment rights.

But ownership is also driving the shift:

• Jeff Bezos, once a Trump antagonist, has softened. He blocked a Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris to avoid angering Trump. He donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural and sat prominently at the swearing-in. The Post’s editorial page has since become less adversarial.

• CBS, recently acquired by David Ellison with his father Larry’s money, paid Trump $16 million to settle another absurd lawsuit and fired Stephen Colbert to get the deal approved. Ellison is reportedly trying to move CBS News to the right. He’s in talks to buy Bari Weiss’s conservative media outlet for $100 million and install her as a news leader. He also hired Kenneth Weinstein, former head of a conservative think tank, as CBS’s ombudsman.

• David Ellison is even considering acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, which would give him control of CNN.

Add this to Fox News—which already functions like state media—and the picture is grim.

There are exceptions, but much of the corporate press is now too loyal to, or too afraid of, Trump to act as a true check on power

How we fight back. I won’t sugarcoat it: there are no easy answers. Right-wing media dominance has been decades in the making, while Democrats mostly looked the other way. But we’re not powerless.

1. Call out right-wing control of media. Democrats need to name and shame the billionaires using platforms and outlets to serve Trump. The customer base for many of these platforms leans Democratic, yet only the Right exerts real pressure. That has to change.

2. Invest in pro-democracy media. From the grassroots up, Democrats must nurture independent, fact-based outlets. The corporate media is largely a lost cause.

We need to support progressive political media (Crooked Media, The Bulwark, Zeteo), independent investigative outlets (ProPublica, Popular Information, Dropsite News), and creators like myself (editor’s note: and Newsmakers!). The Right is trying to sue critics into silence; the best response is louder, better, independent voices.

…The good news is that we’re in the middle of a massive transition in technology and media. Old models are collapsing. If Democrats are smart and aggressive, we can seize this moment and reverse the trend.

Dan Pfeiffer, co-host of the “Pod Save America” podcast, is a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama. Subscribe to his “Message Box” newsletter here.

Image: Jimmy Kimmel (HELLO! magazine).