The DoJ just escalated its burgeoning feud with Silicon Valley by introducing a new legislative plan meant to make certain changes proposed in a Trump executive order signed late last month permanent – including a measure to strip tech giants of “liability shields” for activity and speech that happens on their platforms.
In effect, the DoJ proposal would rollback protections centered in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, something that’s gaining bipartisan support (albeit for vastly different reasons).
If adopted by Congress and passed, the bill would effectively make some of the changes outlined in an executive order signed by Trump late last month the law of the land: It would rollback protections for these digital ‘platforms’ that engage in active political censorship of users on said platforms.Because of this, it represents a serious escalation of the Trump Administration’s fight against Big Tech, which President Trump has long criticized for discriminating against conservatives and their ideas.
The new framework might gain more traction on capital hill, particularly after the events of yesterday, when a journalist-activist employed by NBC News published a story claiming that the “far-right” websites Zero Hedge and the Federalist (two sites that have both been described as about as conservative as the Drudge Report) were recently demonetized by Google. Shortly after, Google clarified that it was working with the two publishers to rein in hate speech in comment sections.
Furthermore, Jonathan Turley, a law professor at GW who often writes on free speech issues, criticized an NBC News report on the “de-monetization” (later denied by Google) of Zero Hedge and the Federalist) and argued that Google’s actions support the DOJ legislative proposal and the Trump Administration’s incipient anti-trust effort.
As we discussed earlier in regards to Twitter, Google seems to be making the case for not only pushing forward with anti-trust inquiries but stripping it and other companies of immunity protections. Indeed, the Justice Department just announced that it is moving forward with proposals to strip away protections. Google and other companies were given protections under Section 320 because it has claimed to being a neutral supplier of virtual space for people to speak with one another. It is now effectively shutting down sites because they allow others to comment freely on their sites. This biased targeting of sites has led to congressional objections and renewed threats to amend the federal law. Indeed, Google is undermining the support with some of us who viewed protections are fostering free speech values. It is now using its role to stifle and regulate speech, the very antithesis of not just free speech but the federal protections.
The White House has made it abundantly clear that it won’t tolerate social media platforms continuing to censor and de-monetize conservative speech while ignoring similar behavior by radical leftists. If these platforms want to continue to ‘curate’ the information and speech found therein, then they should be treated more like a publisher than a platform.
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A day late and a dollar short.
When Trump exits the stage as a one-term President, and it’s looking more and more like he will, all of this bad cop-good cop noise will be swept into the dustpan.
Prepare yourself for Biden-Harris.
I don’t see it. Biden?
The only person who could defeat Trump is Big Mike 2020. Not because he’s great, but because Biden and the Democrats are that much worse. If they had been a lot saner and less treasonous, the election was theirs to lose.
Big Mike’s a felon.
Doesn’t matter in this Brave New World. (Are you sure though?)
Why is anyone voluntarily using gaggle/fecesbook/twaddle ect.?
I get tis hard at times to avoid it as sneaks in unknowingly but do not voluntarily use these services!
By the time any of the sheningans being pulled by our tech oligarchs is settled, if ever, the 2020 election will be a distant memory.
Russian interference in the 2016 election is an absolute laffer compared to what, Fukbook, Goolag, Twatter and the media in general have planned for the one sided election onslaught in 2020. Talk about election interference! Every election is touted as ” the most important election ever” but this one really will warrant such a consideration .
Things will be a smokin’.
Big Tech is like the drug cartels in Mexico. They have accumulated so much money that they have overwhelmed the entire society.
Some think this is a win for conservatives, but it’s really not. In fact, jewish groups like the ADL are salivating at the elimination of Section 230. Sites like IHR, CODOH, vnnforum, WRSA and even TBP will disappear overnight if those who operate those sites are suddenly legally liable for any and every comment made on their forums.
You twit, the elimination of immunity for big tech is clearly based on whether they are a publisher or a platform. Obviously TBP is a platform, while JQ does editorialize, he doesn’t stop anyone from posting intelligent viewpoints. He only boots the morans that come here to stir up strife!
No shit, dummy. What do you think TBP becomes once Section 230 disappears.