Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) is pressing on in his fight to break up the deep state censorship cartel.
Sen. Schmitt, who as Missouri attorney general launched the landmark Murthy v. Missouri lawsuit against federal government censorship efforts, now has three senate bills aimed at addressing the same issue; namely, government and social media companies joining forces to crush free speech.
Schmitt described to The Federalist his reaction to the corruption Murthy uncovered: “We knew there was something there, but the level and the depth and the vast reach … We’re talking about agencies people have never heard of, agencies colluding with the biggest companies in the history of the world to suppress the voices of Americans.” Unfortunately, the US. Supreme Court ultimately punted on Murthy and refused to make a wholesale condemnation of government collusion with Big Tech companies to censor.
Schmitt told The Federalist that the lawsuit still effectively exposed government officials who pressured social media companies to censor users, including former NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci. “The importance of the lawsuit was two-fold: Expose it and then stop it,” Schmitt said.
The Missouri senator now has legislation that could help accomplish the second goal. The Censorship Accountability Act, for instance, would allow Americans to sue federal government employees who have violated “rights secured by the First Amendment.”
The Transparency in Bureaucratic Communications Act would require federal inspectors general to look into “potential collusion between social media companies.” Finally, the Collude Act would end the Section 230 exemptions for Big Tech companies that “modify or suppress legitimate political speech at the direction of a government entity.”
In his comments to The Federalist, Schmitt added, “What’s changed now is you’ve got to pick. Either you’re going to be a publisher or you’re going to be a platform. You can’t edit this stuff to fit the political whims of the point of view you want to have.” Now that Republicans have a majority in both houses of Congress, Schmitt optimistically predicts the legislation could get passed.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “misinformation” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
