{"id":1073621,"date":"2021-12-01T17:13:39","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T22:13:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1073621"},"modified":"2021-12-01T17:13:51","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T22:13:51","slug":"house-republicans-press-facebook-whistleblower-frances-haugen-democrats-on-big-tech-censorship-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-republicans-press-facebook-whistleblower-frances-haugen-democrats-on-big-tech-censorship-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"House Republicans Press Facebook Whistleblower Frances Haugen, Democrats On Big Tech Censorship Concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhouse-republicans-press-facebook-whistleblower-frances-haugen-democrats-on-big-tech-censorship-concerns%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1073621&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><ul>\n<li><strong>House lawmakers considered several proposals to reform Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in an Energy and Commerce Committee hearing Wednesday, with Republicans and Democrats each using the opportunity to advance their agenda.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u201cIt\u2019s wrong for anyone to use this opportunity to push for more censorship, more power, and more control over what they determine Americans should say, post, think and do,\u201d Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers said. \u201cOne of the bills before us today, the Justice Against Malicious Algorithms Act, is a thinly veiled attempt to pressure companies to censor more speech.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Democratic Rep. Darren Soto dismissed allegations of tech censorship, arguing that Republicans were attempting to use free speech concerns to spread disinformation.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The hearing also featured left-leaning witnesses who stressed the dangers of misinformation and hateful speech on social media platforms, calling on lawmakers to reform Section 230 in order to hold platforms liable for such content.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>House lawmakers considered several proposals to reform Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in an Energy and Commerce Committee hearing Wednesday, with Republicans and Democrats each using the opportunity to advance their agenda.<\/p>\n<p>While both parties <a href=\"https:\/\/energycommerce.house.gov\/committee-activity\/hearings\/hearing-on-holding-big-tech-accountable-targeted-reforms-to-techs-legal\"><u>lobbied<\/u><\/a> for Section 230 reforms, their reasons for doing so and their proposals diverged considerably; Republicans stressed the dangers of tech companies censoring online speech, particularly conservative political content, and Democrats decried the threat posed by social media misinformation.<\/p>\n<p>In her opening remarks, Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers emphasized her concerns with tech platforms censoring speech, characterizing Democrats\u2019 Section 230 reforms as an attempt to encourage social media companies to remove more conservative political content. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/02\/18\/conservatives-section-230-reform-unintended-consequences\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: As Bipartisan Calls To Amend Section 230 Mount, Experts Emphasize Unintended Consequences)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s wrong for anyone to use this opportunity to push for more censorship, more power, and more control over what they determine Americans should say, post, think and do,\u201d McMorris Rodgers said. \u201cOne of the bills before us today, the Justice Against Malicious Algorithms Act, is a thinly veiled attempt to pressure companies to censor more speech.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/10\/14\/frank-pallone-big-tech-facebook-frances-haugen\/\"><u>bill<\/u><\/a>, introduced by top Energy and Commerce Democrats, removes Section 230 liability protections from tech platforms that recommend \u201cpersonalized\u201d content contributing to \u201cphysical or severe emotional injury\u201d of a user, thereby allowing \u201cinjured\u201d users to sue. Rep. Frank Pallone, who co-sponsored the bill, <a href=\"https:\/\/energycommerce.house.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/ec-leaders-announce-legislation-to-reform-section-230\"><u>said<\/u><\/a>&nbsp;the legislation would stop social media platforms from promoting \u201cextremism\u201d and \u201cdisinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClearly, companies will have to decide between leaving up content that may offend someone and fight it in court, or censor content that reaches a user; which do you think they\u2019ll choose?\u201d McMorris Rodgers asked.<\/p>\n<p>Democratic Rep. Darren Soto dismissed allegations of tech censorship, arguing that Republicans were attempting to use free speech concerns to spread disinformation.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7301336\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"38\">\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7301336\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Facebook employee Frances Haugen testifies during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing entitled \u2018Protecting Kids Online: Testimony from a Facebook Whistleblower\u2019 on Capitol Hill October 5, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cIt seems like as we\u2019re working on key reforms like protecting civil rights, accountability for social media companies, and protecting our kids, the main opposition is by Republicans today; they want a license to have the right to lie without consequence,\u201d Soto said.<\/p>\n<p>House Republicans also pressed key witnesses including former Facebook <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/10\/06\/facebook-whistleblower-frances-haugen-mark-zaid-bill-burton\/\"><u>employee<\/u><\/a> Frances Haugen, who has called for increased federal oversight of <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/10\/05\/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-instagram-frances-haugen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">social media<\/a> platforms\u2019 content moderation decisions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted to start with a yes-or-no question: do you support Big Tech\u2019s censorship of constitutionally protected speech on their platforms?\u201d McMorris Rodgers asked Haugen. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/10\/13\/facebook-frances-haugen-big-tech-mark-zuckerberg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Facebook\u2019s Whistleblower Could Be The Best Thing To Ever Happen To Big Tech)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe we should be re-architecting these systems so that they are more focused on our family and friends, because this is not about good ideas or bad ideas; it is about making the system safe,\u201d Haugen responded.<\/p>\n<p>When McMorris pressed Haugen for a clear yes or no answer, she failed to provide one.<\/p>\n<p>The hearing also featured left-leaning witnesses who stressed the dangers of misinformation and hateful speech on social media platforms, calling on lawmakers to reform Section 230 in order to hold platforms liable for such content.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBig Tech is profiting off of yelling \u2018fire in a crowded theater,\u2019 and though I understand that we have these conversations about the First Amendment, there are limitations to what you can and cannot say,\u201d Rashad Robinson, president and CEO of left-wing advocacy group Color of Change, <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/11\/30\/house-panel-censorship-facebook-rashad-robinson-frances-haugen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">adding<\/a> that \u201cfreedom of speech is not freedom from consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>House lawmakers considered several proposals to reform Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in an Energy and Commerce Committee hearing Wednesday, with Republicans and Democrats each using the opportunity &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1073621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1073621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/96"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1073621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1073621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1073621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1073621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1073621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}