ST. LOUIS, Mo (KTVI) — Publishing giant Simon & Schuster announced Thursday that it will not move forward with plans for Missouri U.S. Senator Josh Hawley’s book.
In a statement, the company said:
“After witnessing the disturbing, deadly insurrection that took place on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., Simon & Schuster has decided to cancel publication of Senator Josh Hawley’s forthcoming book, THE TYRANNY OF BIG TECH. We did not come to this decision lightly. As a publisher it will always be our mission to amplify a variety of voices and viewpoints: at the same time we take seriously our larger public responsibility as citizens, and cannot support Senator Hawley after his role in what became a dangerous threat to our democracy and freedom.”
Simon & Schuster Statement Regarding THE TYRANNY OF BIG TECH by Josh Hawley
Senator Hawley was one of the first members of the Senate to announce he would object to certifying electoral college results in favor of President-elect Joe Biden. After Wednesday’s protest in Washington, D.C. turned into a violent riot at the Capitol, the Senate came back into session and Hawley continued with his objection, citing concerns over Pennsylvania’s mail-in ballot statute. Legal challenges to the statute have previously been denied by the state’s Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Late Thursday afternoon, Hawley responded on Twitter, calling out the publisher for violating his rights of free speech.
“This could not be more Orwellian. Simon & Schuster is canceling my contract because I was representing my constituents, leading a debate on the Senate floor on voter integrity, which they have now decided to redefine as sedition. Let me be clear, this is not just a contract dispute. It’s a direct assault on the First Amendment. Only approved speech can be published. This is Left looking to cancel everyone they don’t approve of. I will fight this cancel culture with everything I have. We’ll see you in court.”
The book, “The Tyranny of Big Tech,” originally due out this summer, argues that social media companies and other technology firms are a threat. “To reverse the concentration of these companies, which define our era, Senator Hawley argues that we must correct the mistakes of the progressive past and recover a more truly republican politics, a politics premised on the importance of the working man and woman. That means recovering the link between liberty and democratic participation,” according to the book’s listing which was still active on the publisher’s website late Thursday.