Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) announced that he’s co-sponsoring a bill to amend Section 230 to ensure Big Tech platforms uphold U.S. consumers’ right to free speech.
Section 230 is part of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) of 1996 that largely provides protection to Big Tech companies from being sued for content on their websites.
The introduced bill states that if a provider is dominant in its market and “makes content moderation decisions pursuant to policies or practices that are not reasonably consistent with the First Amendment to the Constitution,” then they will lose the immunity currently provided by Section 230.
On Jan. 8, Twitter permanently suspended President Donald Trump’s account. Meanwhile, Apple and Google removed Parler, an app seen as Twitter’s alternative, from their respective app stores.
Apple criticized Parler for allowing “dangerous and harmful” content. Amazon followed the move and also removed Parler from its web-hosting service.
“So these 60,000 conservative accounts on Twitter that have now been permanently banned? I'll tell you, this sets a very dangerous precedent and something we have to fight against.”
Cawthorn said during the interview that Republicans need to take back the House and Senate in 2022, otherwise there’s very little they can do to reform Section 230.
“Censorship of elected officials by unelected elites is UNAMERICAN!”
Cawthorn, 25, was sworn in as a member of the House of Representatives on Jan. 3. He’s one of the youngest members of Congress in history.
Cawthorn objected to the Electoral College results during the Joint Session of Congress on Jan. 6. He later said he believed the state he objected to had “broke their constitutional mandate and the way they ran their elections.”
