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Senate Republicans passed a law requiring social media companies to publicly disclose requests or recommendations made by governments regarding the content users post on their platforms.
Facebook, Twitter and similar companies will be required to regularly share information about such individuals or risk ever-increasing penalties under the PROTECT Online Speech Act proposed Wednesday.
The bill’s main sponsor, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, announced the proposed legislation after raising concerns that the White House undoubtedly plays a role in controlling online medical disinformation.
While discussing the lies spread online about COVID-19, White House press secretary Jen Psaki recently said that the Biden administration has “flagged problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation.”
“Americans should know when governments – especially their own governments – demand or pressure internet companies to censor legal speech,” Mr Rubio said in a statement announcing the newly submitted Senate bill.
If accepted, companies will have seven days to disclose their requests for content moderation by a US or foreign government. Exceptions apply for law enforcement and national security matters.
According to the bill, companies will be fined $50,000 for each day they fail to comply with the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) rules to provide internet access in rural areas.
Internet companies, including Facebook and Twitter, regularly publish transparency reports with all kinds of statistics on requests made by law enforcement and other authorities.
The proposed legislation also requires these companies to report situations where governments are recommending moderate content to a provider, such as editing, deleting or reducing access to a particular post.
The bill, officially the Act to Prevent Restrictions and Empower Speakers to Deliver Powerful and Diverse Changes in Online Speech, currently has four other sponsors in the Senate, all from Republicans.
“If the federal government is trying to end the Constitution by secretly working with technology platforms to censor American speech, then the American people deserve to know,” said Senator Bill Hagerty, a Tennessee Republican and one of the bill’s co-sponsors. . “The need for transparency will ensure that the government does not work covertly to censor Americans,” the statement said.
Other sponsors of the bill include Sens from Florida. Rick Scott, Wyoming’s Cynthia Lummis, and Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson. It was referred to the Homeland Security and State Affairs Commission.
Facebook and Twitter spokesmen did not immediately respond to messages about the bill.
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