Facebook admitted in court that it is a private publisher, not a free platform, proving its conservative critics correct.
Conservative pundit Chadwick Moore tweeted an article by tech blog ReclaimTheNet, writing, “Facebook just admitted in a federal document that they are, indeed, a publisher, not a platform, and they are demanding First Amendment protections from Laura Loomer's defamation lawsuit.” The upshot: “This means, Mark Zuckerberg lied to Congress.”
The lie in question was when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told congress that "We're a tech company, not a publisher."
The lawsuit was brought by controversial provocateur Laura Loomer for having been deplatformed by Big Tech because she was “a dangerous individual trafficking in hate.”
In the motion, Facebook said that “to the extent Ms. Loomer’s claim targets Facebook’s decision to deactivate her accounts, it is also deficient. Under well-established law, neither Facebook nor any other publisher can be liable for failing to publish someone else’s message.”
Loomer has been deplatformed and banned from many different apps, from transport to communication and payment processors. In early February, after she had been financially blacklisted by PayPal, she said lamented via Instagram “I am banned everywhere. I am banned on Twitter for exposing Jew hatred, I am banned by Uber an [sic] Lyft, I am banned from Go fund me[sic], I am banned from Venmo, I am banned from Uber Eats.”
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Section 230, the protection afforded to Big Tech platforms from legal prosecution for illegal activity, is predicated upon their behavior as free platforms for free speech, and their refusal to act as private publishers. Facebook’s brazen admission that it acts as a platform has opened it to possible prosecution or the repeal of Section 230’s protections.
Conservative blog Culttture observed that Loomer recently wrote on Telegram, “according to Facebook, Trump supporters are more dangerous than ISIS.” She then added “Facebook banned me and labeled me a ‘dangerous individual,’ but they are creating pages for ISIS terrorists.”
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