Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit, Should Be Stripped of All Section 230 Protections Due to the Nature of Their Websites

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Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit, Should Be Stripped of All Section 230 Protections Due to the Nature of Their Websites

Big tech companies such as Google (YouTube, Google Search, etc), Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit, should be stripped of all section 230 protections due to the nature of their websites. Many of these companies moderate their sites but unfairly and unequally target speech online. America has evolved and so has our public square. We have taken our public speech to the square to our computer screens and it is time we change how these laws are applied. I will list examples below on how speech is being targeted. YouTube: Response to COVID-19 YouTube has been removing or banning content related to COVID “misinformation”. One of the videos that was removed involved a group of medical doctors giving praise to the drug hydroxychloroquine to help fight COVID. While there is a debate on how effective the drug is in relation to COVID, there are studies suggesting that the drug can help reduce the risk of COVID. These licensed doctors were giving their medical opinions on a drug that is offered over the counter in other countries. YouTube removed said video, along with Twitter and Facebook, claiming it was misinformation. YouTube exerted their power over these doctors who are more knowledgeable on the subject than YouTube is. The information given was not absolute and like anything in science, information on the subject may change as they learn more about the subject. https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-youtube-twitter-take-down-false-covid-video-shared-t rump-2020-7?op=1 Twitter: Banning of satire accounts Twitter has banned satire accounts recently including an account by the name “The Babylon Bee”. While Twitter did reimplement The Babylon Bee after claiming the removal was a mistake, many other accounts did not get reinstated. The US Supreme Court has ruled that satire speech is protected speech in, Hustler v. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46 (1988). The idea that Twitter has the power to remove anyone they want is dangerous (as seen in the banning of President Trump’s account) and gives them more power than the US Government. https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2044498972242/twitter-mass-bans-satire-accounts-then-back pedals Reddit: The banning of subreddit The_Donald Throughout the history of The_Donald on Reddit, The_Doanald has been unfairly targeted by Reddit. The_Donald was a political subsection of the site that acted as a fan page for President Trump. During The_Donald’ s time on Reddit they were removed from being publicly seen while other similar political subsections were able to freely be seen by others. Reddit went further and marked The_Donald as dangerous and gave a warning message before accessing that subsection. Ultimately, The_Donald was removed and targeted based on their political ideology. Reddit claims that the ban was due to “hate speech” but moderators were actively working with Reddit to remain on the site and even locked the subcategory while they tried to fix any issues. https://www.npr.org/2020/06/29/884819923/reddit-bans-the_donald-forum-of-nearly-800-000-tru mp-fans-over-abusive-posts Big tech has not allowed open and free speech online. It is time we strip these big tech companies of their protections of section 230 and allow for free open discussion. .

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