While many argue that social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter need to do a better job of policing content posted by President Donald Trump and his allies, Trump supporters have a very different view. They claim that those outlets are discriminating against Republicans and violating the First Amendment protections. Far-right Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler of Georgia made such claims during a recent appearance on Fox News — and a well-known conservative journalist, David A. French, is schooling her on what the First Amendment actually does.
Loeffler told Fox News: “It’s very clear that there needs to be strong action, and that’s what I’m taking. I’m taking strong action to protect the 1st Amendment — the freedom of speech for all Americans regardless of their political party. I’ve signed onto legislation to look at the limits on immunity from litigation that currently protects big tech. You know, if you look at what’s happened, it’s all happened against conservative speech — and we need to take a close look at that…. Right now, conservative speech is really under fire by big tech.”
Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri has introduced a bill that would amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 and allow lawsuits against platforms like Twitter and Facebook on the grounds that they are censoring political speech. Loeffler voiced her support for the legislation: Continue reading.