Former President Donald Trump gave a powerful speech at the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference. He asserted his leadership over the conservative movement and demanded an end to Big Tech censorship.
“The time has come to break up Big Tech monopolies and restore fair competition,” Trump proclaimed Feb. 28 at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Trump suggested multiple solutions, the first of which was the “repeal” of “Section 230 Liability Protection.” Trump went on to suggest that “if the federal government refuses to act, then every state in the union where we have the votes, which is a lot of them, Big Tech giants, like Twitter, Google and Facebook, should be punished with major sanctions whenever they silence conservative voices.”
Trump also mentioned the new initiatives to stop Big Tech censorship put forward by Florida and Texas as proof of concept: “Governor Ron Desantis of Florida, and in Texas, and in other states, are doing this. If they do what they’re doing, Florida — and that legislation will pass — and Texas and others will have tremendous power to do what’s right and what’s fair.”
Trump made clear that there would be dire consequences if the problem of Big Tech censorship was not solved: “If Republicans can be censored for speaking the truth and calling out corruption, we will not have democracy, and we will have only left-wing tyranny.” He took time to remember how America, up until recently, was famous for its capacity to allow open debate: “In the past, we would debate,” he recounted. “Who knows who wins? You know, people go, they vote, [and then] they see what happens. But they would have an idea. They would disagree. The public would hear it. The debate and discourse would take place. And then somebody would make a decision. You would win. You would lose. The public would make up its mind.”
But Trump observed that in 2021: “now there is no debate because they refuse to allow our side to even speak or be heard. They don’t want debate, because we have easy victories in a debate, very easy victories. It’s called common sense. It’s called other things, but it’s called common sense. So they don’t want to debate.”
Trump’s shoutout to proposed legislation in Florida and Texas was a major hit with the audience, and for good reason.
DeSantis (R-FL) had declared during a Feb. 2 press conference that “Floridians should have the privacy of their data and personal information protected, their ability to access and participate in online platforms protected, and their ability to participate in elections free from interference from Big Tech protected.” Under the anti-censorship rule DeSantis wishes to pass, “technology companies that de-platform a candidate during an election will face a daily fine of $100,000 until the candidate’s access to the platform is restored,” The Epoch Times summarized. DeSantis further suggested that “If a technology company promotes a candidate for office against another, the value of that free promotion must be recorded as a political campaign contribution enforced by the Florida Elections Commission.”
As Trump also mentioned , Texas Republicans have introduced legislation to protect free speech as well. “What we would like to do is to give any Texan who's being discriminated against the option to bring an action,” State Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-TX) explained in an interview. “We think that will get Facebook's attention, get Twitter's attention, and cause them to start treating Texans fairly.”
Conservatives are under attack. Contact your local representative and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
