May 16, 2019

Wyden Blasts White House Campaign to Pressure Websites Over Fake Bias Claims

Washington, D.C. – Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today blasted the White House’s move to pressure websites over unfounded claims of anti-conservative bias. In fact, online platforms have moved far too slowly to target hateful and vile content online, as multiple reports have demonstrated, and have allowed Donald Trump to promote white nationalists on Twitter.

“Platforms have a lot to answer for, but taking down white supremacist content and this bad-faith charge of bias isn’t one of them,” Wyden said. “The White House move is a major escalation of the right-wing effort to pressure tech companies to leave vile content online, instead of doing the right thing and policing their platforms. I’ve long warned that asking the government to police free speech would have dangerous consequences. It flies in the face of the Constitution. I wrote Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to ensure that private companies would be able to curate content online, without fear of bogus lawsuits or government interference. Trump’s actions this week show why it’s more necessary than ever.”

 

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