Bullhead City, AZ – Representatives Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-4) issued the following statement after introducing H.R. 8612, the Stop the Censorship Act of 2022.

“Big Tech, including Facebook and Twitter, have been caught colluding with the Biden Regime to censor free speech. This is an illegal deprivation of civil rights.  The government cannot censor lawful speech even if done indirectly.  Biden and Big Tech have colluded to censor competition, my constituents, and even President Trump.  All while promoting propaganda about COVID-19, therapeutics, VAERS data, Ukraine and Russia war information, Critical Race Theory and transgenderism, and mass migration. My bill ends Big Tech’s censorship and propaganda protections and instead empowers users” said Representative Gosar.

“Free speech is a bedrock of the United States, but the overwhelmingly left-leaning Big Tech companies have taken that right away from Americans by policing speech they disagree with. Tech platforms have become the de-facto town square, where free speech is and always should be protected. The Stop the Censorship Act makes commonsense updates to the stale language of Section 230 that has not been updated for nearly 30 years. I am proud to join Congressman Gosar in this effort to put power back in the hands of the people—instead of the Silicon Valley censors comprised of billionaires whose totalitarian ambitions have become exceedingly clear,” said Representative Grothman.

Background:

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act deputizes interactive computer services (Big Tech) to censor competition and lawful political speech, even affording immunity from legal challenges against anticompetitive conduct (Enigma Software v. Malwarebytes).

The Stop the Censorship Act revokes Big Tech’s broad immunity for the removal of “otherwise objectionable” material and instead protects the removal of “unlawful material,” extends protections to platforms for empowering users with the option to restrict access to any material, ensures Section 230 does not provide immunity from antitrust claims and requires platforms to abide by their own terms of service.

A copy of the Stop the Censorship Act can be found here.

Original Cosponsors Include:

Representatives Tom Tiffany, Ralph Norman, Glenn Grothman, Matt Gaetz, Troy Nehls, Bob Good, Lauren Boebert, Mary Miller, Andy Biggs