The Georgia state Senate voted 33-21 on Tuesday to enact legislation that strives to preclude social media platforms from removing or censoring content, despite conservatives’ claims that their political views are being discriminated against, and despite the fact that a similar Texas law has been blocked by a federal court.
Senate Bill 393 now goes to the House for further consideration. It proclaims that social media companies with more than 20 million users in the United States are common carriers and cannot prevent people from receiving specific messages based on their opinions, location, race, ethnicity, religion, political beliefs, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.
However, the technology industry claims that the bill is unconstitutional because it would force private companies to host speech with which they disagree. They also argue that private property owners should be free to do whatever they want with their own property.
Sen. Jen Jordan, a Democrat from Sandy Springs, said she doesn’t take issue with the fact that social media companies are really out of control,but that the Republican proposal will be rejected and that Congress must act instead.
Dolezal acknowledges that if the law is passed, the state will be sued, but argues that a challenge could be heard by the United States Supreme Court, breaking new and desirable ground.
Researchers have discovered no pervasive evidence that social media companies favour conservative news, posts, or materials.
The accusations were labelled political disinformation spread by Republicans by New York University’s Stern Center for Business and Human Rights in a 2021 report.
The debate boils down to whether lawmakers and judges regard Facebook as a telephone company that must serve all users who pay their bills, or as a print publisher that can say whatever it wants and ignore opposing viewpoints within broad guidelines.
According to the bill, social media companies must publish how they moderate content, target content to specific users, and boost or hide specific content. It also requires social media companies to publish a report every six months detailing how frequently they were alerted to potentially illegal content, as well as how many times they removed or downplayed content and suspended or removed users.
Anyone who believes a company is not following the law may file a civil lawsuit in Georgia.
