Following Twitter’s acceptance of Elon Musk’s offer to buy the business and take it private, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) introduced legislation on Thursday to repeal Section 230.
It would also require “reasonable, non-discriminatory access to internet communications channels” through a “common carrier” structure, similar to airlines or parcel delivery services.
Anti-Conservative Bias Concerns
Republicans have long alleged that social media platforms are anti-conservative, citing Twitter posts and network feeds as evidence.
Former President Trump was indefinitely banned from Twitter following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, culminating in his impeachment for inciting the chaos.
Despite unanimous claims, Trump was not indicted in the Senate.
Someone should explain to hillbilly barbie that section 230 is what allows her to tweet her bullsh*t
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene throws support behind Section 230 repeal bill https://t.co/nJHUbIgDyX
— Frank T (@ftuccio) April 28, 2022
Though her formal congressional account stays online, Greene’s personal Twitter account was closed in January for persistently violating the platform’s rules against falsehoods.
Right-wing Facebook pages often have the nation’s most popular posts on the nation’s most popular social media platform.
According to a February study from New York University, “no credible large-scale studies have determined that conservative information is being suppressed for ideological purposes or controlled searches to favor liberal interests.”
The 21st Century FREE Speech Act is Greene’s House version of Sen. Bill Hagerty’s Senate bill.
It would prohibit online platforms from giving undue or unjustifiable favor or advantage to any particular individual, class of people, political or religious organization, or affiliation and allow users to sue for infringement.
It would allow carriers to block pornography, extremely violent material, harassing content, and illegal content. Users would be informed of companies’ content moderation policies.
Georgia's @RepMTG has introduced a new bill to replace Section 230 with a free speech alternative, and has invited new Twitter owner @elonmusk to a round-table discussion with censored individuals like Alex Jones and Milo Yiannopoulos@ValiantNewsLivehttps://t.co/TvmoDYcVLy pic.twitter.com/bTJOLQW6WE
— Jack Hadfield 🇬🇧🇷🇼 (@JackHadders) April 28, 2022
Greene framed the bill as defending Twitter under Musk, who has pledged to fight censorship and has been backed by the right in his bid to buy the firm.
In addition to Twitter, Greene believes her law will impact other social media networks.
Facebook will be severely impacted. In the run-up to the 2020 election, Facebook covered up the Hunter Biden laptop and New York Post stories, Greene said, adding that YouTube is “very guilty.”
The New York Post’s October 2020 piece was not blocked by Facebook, unlike Twitter. Though Facebook stated it restricted the story’s spread.
Greene, who was demoted from her committee assignments last year for liking a Facebook comment calling for the killing of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was planning to present the bill before Musk disclosed his plan to buy Twitter.
After her personal Twitter account was permanently disabled, she spent a lot of time studying other anti-big tech measures and decided Hagerty’s was the best.
She claimed Musk’s purchase of Twitter accelerated the process.
Other Proposals
Greene said she did not believe the plan would shut down smaller social media companies by removing Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
Greene led the bill in the House, Hagerty said.
Greene said the law would still allow corporations to remove harassing content, noting that she has been harassed.
“It’s awful that people feel empowered to say things behind a computer that they probably wouldn’t or shouldn’t say in person,” said Greene.
