North Dakota bill would rein in Big Tech censorship

Yes! There's a bill in North Dakota to help fight Big Tech censorship! And the Democrats sadly are missing in action - as they've so often been lately.

I know firsthand that political progressives have been the main targets of Big Tech censorship. I don't mean from some small-time local con artist who kicked some kids off a BBS in 1987, but from the growing tide of censorship in the more modern Internet era. I've been subjected to it on Usenet and from Facebook, AdSense, and probably other companies. I've even written about how Google's search feature unfairly favors established media outlets - which are hardly voices of left-wing populism.

Until very recently, I would have expected that if there was a bill to combat this electronic book burning, it would be from a Democrat. But in North Dakota, it was a Republican who introduced the bill. Where are the Democrats? Defending Republicans caught up in sexting scandals? Or is it only the Ohio Democrats who defend them?

The bill was drafted last month and would enable North Dakota residents to sue Big Tech giants over censorship. Why is this so important? It's because these platforms are similar in some ways to utilities like the phone company. Should Cincinnati Bell or AT&T be allowed to yank service from political dissidents? (Given Cincinnati Bellyache's wiretap scandal, I'm sure they've tried.)

One of the dangers of Big Tech censorship is that it allows tech giants to manipulate and distort information - even defame innocent parties.

Some observers say that if the bill becomes law, it would likely be challenged in court. It's not entirely clear why a bill that strengthens free speech would be challenged as unconstitutional. Some attack the bill, saying it would violate the Communications Decency Act.

The Communications Decency Act??? Really??? What century is this again??? I almost expected to find the complaints coming from some right-wing preacher out of 1981.

There are politicians of both major parties who want to repeal the hated Section 230 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which gives legal cover to irresponsible Internet firms, but the North Dakota bill would not violate Section 230.

The problem of techies with an out-of-touch, elitist agenda filtering the flow of ideas isn't entirely new. But in the past dozen years, the rise of social media has taken it to new heights. It might be packaged differently now, but it's the same old bag of shit as before.