Holding Big-Tech Accountable
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Holding Big-Tech Accountable
It seems that with every election, we are seeing the landscape of the battleground change, more-so with Social Media.
Regardless of an election cycle, it seems to only take a moment for something posted on YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter to become spotlighted in the mainstream media.
If you haven’t yet seen the recent viral video of former Vice-President Biden, or as I like to call him, “Good ol’ Uncle Joe,” telling those who were black that if they didn’t vote for him they weren’t black, then before reading this I would encourage you to watch this.
While such grotesque behavior is thankfully covered and admonished, what is and is not covered in the mainstream media is largely guided by these Social Media companies, specifically by their tech executives own personal political preferences.
Their preferences allow them to draft guidelines that are increasingly vague as to what does and does not violate their ethical standards. This allows them to, without notice or reason, create roadblocks such as shadow-bans or entirely force you into a mute state.
Understandably, we must ask ourselves, “What if the shoe were on the other foot, what if their preferences promoted Conservative messaging?”
The answer: It’s wrong no matter what side of the aisle we are on.
How do we fix this problem?
By creating, as Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) put it, “a threshold definition of neutral.”
Article 230 of the Communications Act specifically states:
“No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”
The question imposed on us now is, “does Facebook, Google, or Twitter continue to benefit from the protection from any speaker’s words, when they are effectively turning up the volume on some speakers and muting others altogether?”
My answer is no, they cannot have it both ways when they hide being the premise of being a platform. Especially when their increasingly obscure rules, with relative definitions, permits them to continue acting as a publisher while such acts omitted or permitted have real-world consequences.
Upon being sworn in, I will introduce legislation immediately that allows Article 230 to provide a line in the sand against these social-media tech giants from alluding liability while effectively limiting the individual’s freedom of expression.
Learn more about my America First platform and view my press release on this topic at milesforoklahoma.com
