Congressional Republicans face a dilemma in determining how they want to approach Big Tech. Some perceive the largest tech companies to have too much power over political speech, power that can be used to censor conservatives. Many fear that so-called “woke” opinions are artificially promoted by tech companies whose employees agree with them, while news stories that contradict that narrative are downplayed.
Those fears may be valid, but the legislative “solutions” that some members are flirting with would do little to help. Indeed, they may backfire severely.
The First Amendment, of course, already severely constrains what Congress can do to influence the decisions private businesses like Google and Facebook make about speech on their platforms, even if those decisions act as de facto censorship. Lawmakers have therefore looked at alternative ways to reduce the power and influence of these corporations. Some Republicans have even begun to voice at least mild support for proposals from congressional Democrats that would regulate Big Tech — in particular, proposals to impose “nondiscrimination” requirements on the platforms’ business activities.
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