Stand Up for Free Expression, Defend Section 230!
As the Trump administration attempts to silence left-wing organizations, Democratic party leaders like Amy Klobuchar (D-MI) are lining up to restrict speech and remove the Section 230 protections that everyone relies on to exercise their rights to speak and organize. Senator Klobuchar is not alone, as Dick Durbin — the second most powerful Democrat in the Senate — has been trying to repeal Section 230 for years. We must defend Section 230, a law that both left and right-aligned organizations agree is vital for protecting our First Amendment rights online.
Why is This Happening?
In the wake of the killing of Charlie Kirk, the Trump administration and its political allies seized the opportunity to crack down on speech. Vice President JD Vance and the White House promised to use the full weight of the government to “go after the NGO network that foments, facilitates and engages in violence”, naming institutions like the Ford Foundation and Open Society Foundation as targets. There is no evidence that these major grantmaking entities in any way encourage political violence. Additionally, the White House designated “antifa” as a terrorist organization and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr pressured ABC and Disney to briefly take Jimmy Kimmel off the air — making good on an August threat from President Trump.
Some Republican members of Congress joined these efforts. Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) promised he’d force “tech platforms to mandate immediate ban for life of every post or commenter that belittled the assassination of Charlie Kirk.” However, other Republican members kept to their stated principles of protecting free speech. At the same summit where Klobuchar immediately contradicted her own stance against censorship, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) said that “The First Amendment absolutely protects speech. It absolutely protects hate speech. It protects vile speech. It protects horrible speech. What does that mean? It means you cannot be prosecuted for speech, even if it is evil and bigoted and wrong.” No member of Congress should be worse than Ted Cruz in protecting Americans First Amendment right to free speech.
How Will This Hurt Free Speech?
While big corporations are an easy target for the administrations efforts to crack down on speech, especially those looking for merger approvals, the Internet remains a place where anyone can find a home for their content. That’s primarily due to Section 230: a law that protects platforms from being sued for the legal content their users post online. Without Section 230, platforms would have to examine every post and video before allowing it online or risk lawsuits, including “strategic lawsuits against public participation” that have been used by powerful people to silence voices they do not like. It also protects platforms from radical state laws that are preempted by Section 230, meaning they can’t be enforced if they conflict with the national law.
Section 230 benefits free speech across the political spectrum. It’s what allows Tucker Carlson to host his show online after being fired from Fox. It allows people to criticize Charlie Kirk after his death. It allows people to organize protests and boycotts. It allows people to give information on how to receive safe and effective abortions even as abortion is being criminalized.