Yet another state legislature has stepped up to fight rampant Big Tech censorship.
Nebraska State Senator Curt Friesen (R) introduced the Social Media Fairness Act into the Nebraska state legislature last month, and the legislative body held a hearing for it Feb. 25. The bill stated that its aim was to curtail the power of “dominant social media web site[s].”
The bill defined a “dominant social media web site” as “an Internet web site or application through which a user creates, shares, and interacts with content ... which has more than seventy-five million subscribers or users.”
Under the proposal, if a Nebraska resident’s social media account is “disabled, suspended, or censored,” then the social media platform in question “must provide electronic notice to such individual or business user within thirty days after taking such action.”
The bill also provided a standard through which individuals or business users can hold Big Tech accountable. “If the owner or operator of the dominant social media web site would have violated the First Amendment had the owner or operator of the dominant social media web site been a government actor, the owner or operator of the dominant social media company shall be fined one hundred thousand dollars per violation,” the bill said.
Friesen bashed the lack of accountability for social media companies. “While I understand the importance of preventing violence, unaccountable social media giants — that are answerable only to their shareholders — are not the right entities to make these sorts of decisions, especially when these decisions can be made for any reason, with zero due process or accountability,” he told local news source KNEB radio.
More and more states have begun to stand up against Big Tech after Congress has been slow to take any action on the matter. The North Dakota legislature introduced a bill that would hold Big Tech “liable in a civil action for damages to the person whose speech is restricted, censored, or suppressed.” Maryland recently enacted a law to tax online ad revenue. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) has also outlined legislation to curb online censorship by imposing fines on Big Tech companies who censor political candidates or interfere with the privacy of Florida citizens.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech and media providers be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
