California's COVID 'misinformation' bill is 'chilling': Jonathan Turley
Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley reacts to Gov. Gavin Newsom signing a bill policing California doctors on the spread of COVID misinformation to patients on 'America Reports.'
California's new bill which will discipline doctors for spreading COVID-19 "misinformation" is a "chilling" indication of the Democrats' position toward free speech in the state, GWU law professor Jonathan Turley told Fox News on Monday.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed what some are calling the most controversial bill to come out of the pandemic, which seeks to punish doctors and possibly suspend their medical licenses for spreading "misinformation" to patients on key issues, including vaccinations and medications.
Turley, a Fox News contributor and legal scholar, ripped the legislation in an appearance on "America Reports" later Monday, calling the policy "dangerous" and its implications "chilling."
Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom of California (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
"This law is chilling and what it says about free speech in California, [is] these doctors are being told that if they are viewed as spreading misinformation, it will be considered unprofessional conduct, threatening their very licenses…," Turley said.
"Many issues like mask and vaccine efficacy are all being cited as areas where they want to stop misinformation," he said. "Those are all areas where people were banned from social media making statements that are now considered to be matters in good faith, issues that are worth debating."
Turley noted that the global consensus on masks and vaccines has drastically evolved since the pandemic's onset, pointing to medical professionals and others who were barred from social media platforms for raising questions, many of which "proved to be right."
"Back then when people questioned whether masks were effective, they were barred. And under this law presumably, you could have used this law to threaten their licenses," he said. "But what was really essential about those dissenters, is they forced discussion and some proved to be right."
CALIF. GOV. NEWSOM MUST NOT DECLARE WAR ON DOCTORS OVER SO-CALLED MEDICAL ‘MISINFORMATION’
Nurse prepares COVID-19 Vaccines in Waterford, Michigan, U.S., April 8, 2022. (REUTERS/Emily Elconin)
The new bill threatens dissenters in the medical community, Turley said, emphasizing how dangerous it is to intimidate doctors from expressing doubts they may have about what is being put forward in public health policy.
"The problem is they are targeting the very people that we want to feel free to express concerns and doubts," he said. "These are the people that we need to be part of the debate, and they are chilling that debate."
Turley said the bill is further indication of the Democrats' desire to control free speech. Despite being raised in a "very liberal Democratic" family, Turley said he no longer recognizes the party.
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a bill signing ceremony on Feb. 9, 2022. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
"I don’t know why Democrats have become the party of censorship and speech control," he said. "You know, I come from a very liberal democratic family in Chicago. I don’t recognize the party anymore. It used to be this was a defining part of the Democratic Party. Now law after law is about controlling the speech of others, censoring the speech of others.
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"But," he continued, "this is very dangerous because what you are doing is threatening the very people we need to hear from if they have doubts about what is being put forward in policy."
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