The following statement may be attributed to Free State Foundation President Randolph May regarding President Trump’s Executive Order:
“Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Google are private companies, which means that they enjoy First Amendment free speech protection against government interference with their editorial decisions. It is pretty disingenuous for Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to claim, as he has, that by flagging President Trump’s tweets for ‘fact-checking’ that Twitter is not in some sense acting as an ‘arbiter of the truth.’ But even assuming that Twitter may have a political bias, intentional or otherwise, I’d prefer that Twitter act as a such an arbiter, or even as a censor, than the government. And that is the choice that the Founders and the people made when they adopted and ratified the First Amendment and put it at the top of the Bill of Rights.
By the way, this does not mean that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which is the focus of the Trump Executive Order, should be immune from any scrutiny. Almost a quarter century after adoption, there may be tweaks to the immunity law that would reflect today’s realities. But, to be clear, any such changes should not be directed to impacting the First Amendment’s protection against government interference with speech relating to politics or matters of public concern. Such speech is at the core of the First Amendment, and robust back-and-forth in the marketplace of ideas remains the best remedy for redressing perceived untruths or biases."
Posts
