Today, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced the 21st Century FREE Speech Act to put the American people—rather than Big Tech corporations—in charge of what they say or hear in today’s public square. Congresswoman Greene is partnering with Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) to pass the bill in both the House and Senate. This bill adopts the straightforward approach of ensuring that Americans have reasonable, non-discriminatory access to social media platforms, just as they do for other common carriers like telephone, transportation, and electric services.
Americans today use major technology platforms to communicate and consume information. These platforms are owned by large technology corporations that dominate their markets and use opaque, inconsistent moderation practices, allowing them to control the information presented and discussed in the modern public square.
The 21st Century Free Speech Act (HR 7613) would solve this issue by:
Providing Reasonable, Non-Discriminatory Access:
- Because the dominant technology platforms function as common carriers, Americans should have access to them on reasonable, non-discriminatory terms.
Ensuring Consumer Transparency:
- The bill would require Big Tech to disclose its content moderation practices to users, so that American consumers understand and control the information they receive.
Creating a Private Right of Action:
- Consumers can address violations of the previous two provisions via civil action.
Abolishing Section 230:
- The bill would abolish Section 230 in favor of a liability protection framework that marries that Section’s original intent with the ensuing 25 years of enormous technological change
- The bill would continue liability protection for third-party speech and urge family-friendly moderation, without providing limitless, special protection for tech platforms’ own speech and viewpoint censorship.
Congresswoman Greene and Senator Hagerty issued the following statements:
“For too long Big Tech oligarchs in Silicon Valley have silenced patriotic Americans for simply speaking the truth. The unholy union of the Silicon Valley Cartel and Communist Democrats must finally be broken. Our country needs more freedom of speech and more information not less of it. Big Tech’s tyrannical control over the public square must be stopped and the right to speak must be restored,” said Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. “The people of Northwest Georgia elected me to be their voice. When I got kicked off Twitter, they kicked me off not because they hate me but because they hate the People of Northwest Georgia and every American who shares our values. It is time to put the American people back in charge of free speech. The 21st Century FREE Speech Act accomplishes just this, and I am proud to partner with Senator Hagerty to pass this bill in both chambers of Congress.”
“It’s long-past time that Congress abolish Section 230, rein in dominant Big Tech companies, and put the American people back in charge of what they say and hear in the modern public square,” said Senator Bill Hagerty. “Freedom of speech and the exchange of ideas is something to be celebrated. Telephone companies do not shut off your phone line based on what political views you express during calls and that same commonsense logic should apply to Big Tech. I’m pleased that Rep. Greene is introducing the 21st Century FREE Speech Act in the House of Representatives, and I look forward to working with her to stop this un-American censorship.”
Adam Candeub, Senior Fellow at Center for Renewing America issued the following statement:
“This bill reflects a strong, principled way forward to guarantee that all Americans of all political, religious, and social viewpoints and beliefs have access to dominant internet platforms. The federal government must take action to make sure that unreasonable discrimination does not shut out certain groups or viewpoints of the ‘modern public square.’ Center For Renewing America is excited that Representative MTG is pushing forward one of the most thoughtful proposals to emerge from Congress.”
