Leaked documents from the White House show a plan to authorize censorship of political speech on the Internet.
John,
Last week, a draft copy of an executive order that would authorize government censorship of political speech on the Internet leaked from the Trump administration.
The leaked executive order would give the FCC and FTC the power to police political speech online. It's been denounced as “dangerous” and “unconstitutional” by free speech experts across the political spectrum.1 Even some officials within the administration are pushing back.2
But Trump himself has refused to say he'll back down—so we MUST keep up the pressure.
Trump's order takes aim at the foundational law that makes it possible for online platforms to let users post our own content—Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996.
But since the order leaked, a grassroots backlash has emerged online among both liberals and conservatives. Reason magazine warned that the leaked order would “would almost certainly increase censorship” on the Internet.3 The libertarian organization TechFreedom warned that the rule "would empower regulators to decide what kinds of online speech should and shouldn't be taken down."4
There's a legitimate concern about the growing power that Big Tech platforms like Facebook have to silence our voices, spread misinformation, and manipulate public opinion. But this executive order won't fix any of that.
The fact is, this isn't about liberals vs. conservatives. It's about politicians vs. the rest of us. Case in point: Beto O'Rourke proposed amendments to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act that weaken free speech protections as well.5
We need to kill this idea before any more politicians decide they want to police speech on the Internet.
Sent via ActionNetwork.org.
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