Source: United States Senator for Florida Marco Rubio
We must stop Silicon Valley-Democrat collusion before conservatives are silenced for good
By U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)
July 28, 2021
Fox News
The love affair between Big Tech and the Democratic Party is not a secret. Through campaign contributions, censorship, and woke nonsense, it’s perfectly clear that Silicon Valley giants are working together with the Left to destroy conservative values in America.
But White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki’s admission last week that the Biden administration keeps regular contact with social media companies — and is “flagging problematic posts” related to COVID-19 and vaccines — is a disturbing new step in this dystopian collaboration. The way Psaki describes it, President Biden is working directly with Big Tech to censor Americans and silence free speech on the internet.
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The fact that Psaki and the Biden administration freely admit to engaging in this kind of Big Tech authoritarianism — and colluding with our social media companies to facilitate their censorship — should chill anyone who values the free exchange of ideas in America.
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To that end, I plan to introduce legislation, the PRESERVE Online Speech Act… to publicly disclose any requests from governments to moderate, censor or otherwise limit speech — with the exception of certain law enforcement activities, including terrorism and human trafficking, so our intelligence community and police forces are able to continue pursuing dangerous criminals — within seven days, as well as the action that took place as a result.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would be required to submit an annual report of disclosures to the Senate and House Committees on the Judiciary. Companies that do not comply would be subject to daily fines of $50,000 until they publicly disclose the required information. The funds would be directed to enhance rural broadband throughout the United States.
Transparency is critical, but it alone will not change the poisonous role that Big Tech and social media corporations are playing in our national politics.
We must not be complacent, which is why I also recently introduced the DISCOURSE Act, which would strip Section 230 protections from large tech companies that drop the pretense of neutrality by censoring specific viewpoints or creating and developing content, including through algorithmic amplification.
We need to step up to the plate to stop Silicon Valley-Democrat collusion before it’s too late…