Washington, D.C. - House Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Cathy McMorris Rodgers and House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan (R-OH) released the following statement regarding their draft discussion bill to rein in Big Tech abuses of Section 230 protections.
“Big Tech can no longer be allowed to hide behind Section 230. Today, we are releasing our solution to remove Big Tech altogether from Section 230 and put them under new obligations that will hold them more accountable for censoring Americans. It’s time to expose Big Tech’s bias and make sure they treat constitutionally protected speech fairly." - Cathy McMorris Rodgers
“Big Tech is out to get conservatives. This draft legislation builds upon previous work by our conference to undo the legal immunity that Big Tech hides behind to evade accountability. We want to hear from our colleagues about how we can move forward together to finally stop the censoring of conservative voices on the internet." - Rep. Jim Jordan
Bottomline: Big Tech is increasingly becoming a destructive force to freedom of speech in America and they must not be permitted to do so with impunity. They are silencing conservatives and speech that doesn’t fit the liberal agenda and orthodoxy.
Leader Rodgers and Leader Jordan are releasing a discussion draft of legislation to overhaul Section 230 that:
* Removes large companies from Section 230 blanket liability protections.
* Holds major platforms accountable for the decisions they make related to content moderation. Furthermore, any future protections they receive would only be related to speech not protected by the First Amendment.
* Empowers Americans to challenge censorship and deplatforming by requiring these companies to implement and maintain user-friendly appeals processes.
* Exposes censorship by requiring these companies to file quarterly disclosures that are made publicly available.
* Forces Congress to re-evaluate Big Tech’s behavior related to speech again in five years to ensure they are held accountable.
* Protects innovation and small businesses by targeting these new obligations only to large companies.
Note: Leader Rodgers and Leader Jordan’s bill is part of their framework with Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy. It’s part of a comprehensive package of bills led by House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans to hold Big Tech accountable. The goal for these drafts is to lead to concrete legislation and reforms. The Energy and Commerce Committee is asking for stakeholder and public engagement on these draft bills as part of their thoughtful process in the E&C Big Tech Accountability platform to drive meaningful change.
