Missouri Senator Josh Hawley is leading the charge to amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, essentially giving the government broad powers to regulate tech industry giants. This legislation undermines free speech and would be an egregious overreach of federal powers under the guise of “fairness.”
As Section 230 was construed, it’s aim “was to protect the openness of online culture while also protecting kids from online smut, and protecting the web at large from being overrun by defamatory, hateful, violent, or otherwise unwanted content.” The legal framework that was developed ensured that digital platforms are different entities from their users and are therefore not legally responsible for user content — good, bad, or otherwise. It was a way to protect First Amendment rights in an online world.
Hawley’s amendment would weaken the protections granted to social media companies by requiring them to first show regulators how they make decisions about content and then prove to those regulators that their moderation systems are neutral. Essentially, Hawley’s attempt to push back at various instances (real or imagined) of right-leaning users being treated unfairly or blocked by tech giants means that we have a Republican willing to not only institute severe regulatory behavior but also create anti-free speech monitors. Furthermore, facing possible legal repercussions from user content, companies would likely just ban or remove content others have flagged for any and all reason of being offended.
The antidote to bad speech is not good speech; it is free speech. Removing such free speech protections is an outrageous proposal, and putting the government in charge of deciding speech neutrality is even worse. Shame on Senator Hawley for attempting to regulate “fairness” and launching an assault on our First Amendment rights.