The bill from Senator Roger Wicker, who chairs the Senate
Committee on Commerce; Senator Lindsey Graham, who chairs the
Senate Judiciary Committee and Senator Marsha Blackburn, who
sits on both committees, is titled the 'Online Freedom and
Viewpoint Diversity Act.'
There are mounting calls to reform Section 230 of the 1996
Communications Decency Act. Lawmakers have complained about Big
Tech's content moderation decisions and the legal immunity the
companies enjoy has come under severe scrutiny.
"For too long, social media platforms have hidden behind Section
230 protections to censor content that deviates from their
beliefs," Wicker said in a statement.
Graham aired similar concerns, saying social media companies
routinely censor content considered valid political speech.
In a tweet early on Tuesday, President Donald Trump urged
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to repeal the
legal shield.
"Why does Twitter leave phony pictures like this up, but take
down Republican/Conservative pictures and statements that are
true? Mitch must fight back and repeal Section 230, immediately.
Stop biased Big Tech before they stop you!," Trump said,
referring to an image that transposed McConnell's face onto that
of a Russian guard in Moscow's Red Square.
In May, Trump signed an executive order that seeks new
regulatory oversight of tech firms' content moderation decisions
and backed legislation to scrap or weaken Section 230.
Trump took that action after Twitter tagged the president's
unsubstantiated tweets about claims of fraud in mail-in voting
with a warning prompting readers to fact-check the posts.
There are several other pieces of legislation targeting Section
230 doing the rounds, including one from Democratic Senator
Brian Schatz and No. 2 Senate Republican John Thune and another
from Republican Senator Josh Hawley.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; Editing by Paul Simao)
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