Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Thursday invited tech tycoon Elon Musk to Capitol Hill for a roundtable discussion on free speech and to meet prominent people who have been “unjustly banned” from Twitter.
Mrs. Greene, whose personal account has been shut down by Twitter, said she is optimistic about Twitter becoming a more fair platform now that Mr. Musk will take it over.
“I don’t know Mr. Musk but I do invite him to come talk with me in Washington, D.C. I’d be happy to put together a roundtable of all the most brilliant people who have been unjustly banned from Twitter,” Mrs. Greene, Georgia Republican, told reporters at a press conference.
“He can see for himself the urgent necessity of doing right by them, which we all hope he will, as he has stated that he believes in free speech,” she said.
Mrs. Greene said she has not spoken to Mr. Musk, a self-described free speech absolutist who is buying the social media site for $44 billion.
Although Mrs. Greene has access to her congressional account to tweet legislative information, she cannot use that account for fundraising or campaign purposes, leaving her at a disadvantage in her reelection race.
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Mrs. Greene also introduced companion legislation to a Senate bill authored by Sen. Bill Hagerty, Tennessee Republican, that is intended to expand free speech on social media. The bill, titled the 21st Century Free Speech Act, would abolish Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act that shields internet platforms from lawsuits.
Section 230 provides blanket legal liability protections for “interactive computer services,” such as Facebook and Twitter, to host content on their platforms that is violent, harassing, “or otherwise objectionable.”
“There are some common-sense protections for people who use railways, airlines and even FedEx. It’s sometimes called ’common carriage.’ That’s what I want to do for the internet. And it’s, it’s very long overdue. Instead of merely tinkering with section 230, reforming it, changing it up to actually probably cause more. More violations of freedom of speech,” Mrs. Greene said. “Honestly, I want to provide a comprehensive set of protections and guarantees for every single American.”
The legislation would also treat Big Tech companies like “common carriers” who must provide reasonable, non-discriminatory access to consumers and prohibit political censorship by dominant technology social media platforms. According to Mrs. Greene, the bill would create a minimum standard that all major tech companies must follow to protect users and the freedom of speech.
“This means no discrimination based on political affiliation, race or sex. No more shadow banning popular influential people, because someone in California or New York or whoever, wherever, just doesn’t like their opinions,” she said.
The legislation would also ensure that firms have the power and responsibility to take down videos of child abuse, harassment, self-harm, human trafficking and other illegal activity.
Mrs. Greene noted that tech firms would not be able to remove videos “according to their own whimsical and ever-changing definitions but defined in accordance with the American law.”
Finally, the bill allows users and state attorneys general to sue tech firms when users’ free speech protections are violated. The penalties start at $500 per offense.
“It will quickly become clear to Facebook or YouTube or whomever that they can’t ban half a million people. Who knows? Maybe it’s even more than that without putting themselves potentially out of business,” Mrs. Greene said. “And companies will have to publicly declare their terms of service in a more accessible and straightforward manner. And stick to them.”
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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