This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, who handed out $400 million plus to local elections officials in 2020 to influence the presidential election and was rewarded with a Joe Biden victory, recently announced the assembly of a new software program: Threads.

It's intended to compete with Elon Musk's Twitter.

And he's been promoting it as more "friendly" than Twitter, since that platform has a free-speech policy in which users are not guaranteed not to read something with which they disagree.

But constitutional expert Jonathan Turley is explaining the new software program being touted as "friendly" actually is a new software program that censors speech.

He wrote, "Meta CEO Zuckerberg is continuing to market his new text-based app Threads with the pitch that he is 'definitely focusing on kindness and making this a friendly place.'"

And an "eager media" is claiming the software is a "Twitter killer."

"What is not discussed is what makes Threads 'friendly.' Zuckerberg appears to be promising the friendly confines of a censored site."

Turley explained, "This is not just a cage fight between the two billionaires. Many are more interested in whether Zuckerberg can choke out free speech than in whether he can beat Musk."

When Musk took over Twitter, he installed many guidelines allowing for free speech, which had been absent earlier. And there were those who opposed the installation of free speech.

Now, Turley explained, "Zuckerberg now promises a 'sane' alternative that will place consumers under the watchful eye of Meta censors."

Zuckerberg's censorship, in fact, kicked in on the first day of operations, warning people against following Donald Trump Jr.

"It was a telling moment," Turley said, even though Meta claimed it was an "error."

Turley wrote, "This was clearly a pre-established warning system, to be used to flag accounts disfavored by the company. It was 'an error' that would likely not have been 'fixed,' if not for the objections voiced on the first day of the rollout."

He noted Zuckerberg's corporation "has long been accused of targeting conservatives and dissenting viewpoints. Indeed, Zuckerberg’s pitch for 'sane' management seemed like an appeal to those on the left who objected to the more tolerant free speech policies on Twitter after Musk’s purchase."

He continued, "Threads’ rollout coincides with a court ruling that the government’s interventions to censor people on social media represented 'the most massive attack against free speech in United States history.' Now, Facebook is offering an alternative to Twitter, with the assurance that users will be protected against any thoughts that Meta’s staff finds problematic. While free speech on Twitter is portrayed as harmful, the company has promised to 'prioritize kindness.'

"That sounds eerily familiar to some of us as a way to deprioritize free speech," he wrote.