Online Freedom and Viewpoint Diversity Act
Floor Speech
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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, this week, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation subpoenaed testimony from Mr. Jack Dorsey of Twitter, Mr. Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, Inc., and Mr. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook.
I supported the issuance of these subpoenas, and I look forward to hearing testimony on the content moderation policies used by their respective platforms.
Over the past few months, I have worked with many members of this body on a statutory fix to section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, specifically to the ingrained liability shield that platforms like Facebook use to defend their content moderation policies. Over the years, we have seen Big Tech's biggest players stretch this shield beyond all recognition, far beyond the limits Congress envisioned when they passed the original act in 1996.
Now, content moderators wield their power with abandon, banning and deleting content they disagree with right alongside content of the most vile, universally repulsive nature. Last month, in response to growing outcries over censorship, I introduced the Online Freedom and Viewpoint Diversity Act with Chairman Lindsey Graham and Chairman Roger Wicker to introduce accountability into our dealings with digital platforms and services.
This bill is unique because it doesn't do specifically what so many here in Washington would like it to do: It doesn't delete section 230 from the U.S. Code, nor does it put the power to decide what information should and should not be available online in Congress's or regulators' hands. All it does is remove ambiguities from the original statutory language to help companies and consumers better understand when that liability shield is and is not applicable.
Still, as we move forward with legislation, it is important to remember that we are creating policy for the internet we have now and will have in the future and not the internet we had back in 1996, hence the reason for the subpoenas we are sending to those three Silicon Valley executives. They are the ones who created the internet we have today, and their justifications and perspectives regarding the future of content moderation could prove useful. Subpoenas do change the tone of the conversation, but we view this as a rare opportunity to glean both insight and accountability from the tech industry.
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