"On Feb. 24, House Democrats will hold a hearing on 'traditional media's role in promoting disinformation and extremism.' This hearing is a dangerous threat to American democracy and goes entirely against what the Founders intended when they made a free press Americans' guaranteed First Amendment right in the Constitution.

"It's also just the latest threat against free speech from the left, which has now mainstreamed a despotic desire to use government to cancel conservative speech. ...

"Using government to restrict 'wrong' speech creates a chilling effect. People will get the message that they don't deserve to express themselves in the public sphere. Doing so may reduce divisiveness, but only in the way that nations like Russia, China, and Iran avoid 'divisive' public debates.

"If patriotism and respect for diversity aren't reasons enough for the mainstream press to pause its attack on free speech, perhaps its self-interest will be. Trump was accused of targeting journalists, but it was the Obama administration that actually wiretapped them. What if a future populist, conservative president followed Obama's path -- but went one step further, ordering the FCC to cancel outlets that allowed a commentator's undesirable opinion to be heard? If free speech can be tossed aside on a whim, not only the left will use that power.

"Those in the media and on Capitol Hill who misunderstand free speech are making a grave mistake. They should drop their dangerous demands before they cause irreparable damage to our democracy and to our society."