Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) called for unity among free speech advocates during a podcast by The Daily Signal. During the interview, she said that the GOP should be ready on “day one” with conservative reforms to protect free speech and stop censorship online.
Foreshadowing a hopeful change in congressional leadership for 2023, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee Rodgers said she is working with top House Judiciary Committee Republican Jim Jordan (R-OH) on draft legislation that would remove Section 230 legal immunity for Big Tech. She said that legislation should still protect smaller startups like Parler, GETTR and TRUTH Social, during a Daily Signal podcast released March 30. “We want them to be able to compete and grow,” Rodgers said of smaller tech companies. “And, in fact, TRUTH [Social] today is using Section 230 immunity protections to grow their platform. So we’re trying to thread the needle.”
Rodgers illustrated that lawmakers must be careful with how they handle reforming Section 230:
“There was a time when President [Donald] Trump called for the outright repeal of Section 230 and he actually vetoed the [National Defense Authorization Act], saying that we need to repeal Section 230. Most have concluded since then that that actually would’ve only further entrenched the big guys and that the very 230 immunity protections that would’ve been vetoed are what are being used right now by Truth, his media company, in order to grow and to be competitive.”
Big Tech censorship can interfere with the American political process, Rodgers said, citing how the revelations from the New York Post about then presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter’s reported dealings in foreign lands were censored prior to the 2020 election: “It was blocked,” she said. “New York Post was blocked days leading up to the election. And now it is playing out even today where we are learning more about these emails and that they are, in fact, legitimate.”
Rodgers indicated Democrats’ support for Big Tech reform may end up being more of a Trojan horse for increased censorship. She warned that “Democrats’ proposals are really focused on more government, more government regulation, and advocating that we need to address misinformation and disinformation.” In other words, rather than demanding Big Tech to reform in favor of free speech, Democrats are demanding it reform to restrict speech further. She added further that “there’s a big debate between government regulating and controlling in the name of misinformation, disinformation, versus those of us who believe in the battle of ideas, free speech, and that the answer to information that is false is actually more information.”
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 using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
