Lindsey Graham, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said unregulated social media companies and unverified mail-in ballots posed a dual threat to conservatism.
Graham said on Fox News’s “Hannity” program on Dec. 14 that “conservatism faces two threats: unverified mass mailing ballots, unregulated social media companies, and no prosecution when they remove conservative content.”
“Section 230 allows big tech companies to take down content and make [censorship] decisions without being sued,” he said. “They are not regulated.”
The legal provision in question is Section 230 of the Communications and Decency Act of 1996. Under the law, publishers are liable for any content they publish, but online social media platforms are protected. “The provider or user of a computer network service shall not be deemed to be the publisher or speaker of any information provided by its users.”
“I don’t know of any business in the United States other than the big tech companies that can’t be prosecuted for their actions and are not regulated at any level of government,” Graham said. If we don’t fight back, social media companies and postal votes will destroy conservatism.”
On Tuesday, Graham introduced a bill seeking to end Section 230 protections for big tech companies on Jan. 1, 2023.
“It’s time for these big, largely unregulated tech giants to be broken up, regulated, or sued for their actions.” “Now we are counting down the days to the Section 230 protections these companies enjoy,” he said in a statement.
Graham also argues that the days of special protection for social media platforms are long gone because they have become one of the most powerful companies in the world.
“These companies have a huge impact on the daily lives of the American people and enjoy protections that no other industry enjoys. Democrats and Republicans agree that the time has come to reform or eliminate Section 230.” He said.
Both Republicans and Democrats have long opposed Section 230: Democrats say it is not tough enough on tech companies regulating objectionable content, such as alleged hate speech and harassment; Republicans say it allows technology companies to tweak content at will, silencing conservative voices and stifling free speech. Lawmakers from both parties want to reform the law, but so far there has been little concrete action.
Earlier this month, President Trump pushed for repealing Section 230 of the $740 billion National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, and warned he would veto it if he did not.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said at the time that Trump’s move made sense. “Twitter has become a publisher, choosing to fact-check content,” she said. When you’re a publisher, you have certain responsibilities, and you can’t get away with it.”
But on December 11th the National Defence Authorization Act, which does not include a repeal of Section 230, passed the Senate by a veto-free majority.
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