Below is my column in the Hill on the new NUDGE Act, proposed by Sen. Amy Klobuchar to reform social media. It is, in my view, a Trojan horse bill that threatens core free speech values.
Here is the column:
Beware of politicians bearing reforms. Since the Trojans first wheeled a wooden horse into their fortified city, many are leery about “gifts” that may be heavily laden with dangers. That is true with the Trojan horse legislation just offered by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). In the name of “reforming” the internet and bringing tech monopolies to heel, Klobuchar has penned a “Nudge Act” that would expand corporate censorship and speech controls.
Even the name is designed to be non-threatening. After all, who could oppose an act titled “Nudging Users to Drive Good Experiences on Social Media”? It is enough to garner the support of Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.). The act, however, is less of a nudge and more of a shove toward approved content and choices.
For years, President Joe Biden and Democratic members of Congress have pushed for greater and greater censorship on the internet and on social media. Liberals have found a winning strategy in using corporate censorship to circumvent constitutional limits on governmental speech controls. Senators like Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) warned social media companies that they would not tolerate any “backsliding or retrenching” by “failing to take action against dangerous disinformation,” and demanded “robust content modification” to block disfavored views on subjects ranging from climate control to elections to the pandemic.
The Nudge Act is arguably the most insidious of these efforts. Under the Act, Congress would enlist the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NAS) to recommend sweeping design changes to Big Tech platforms like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube to “reduce the harms of algorithmic amplification and social media addiction.”
The Act is a masterpiece of doublespeak. It refers to developing “content-agnostic interventions” that could ultimately be enforced by a commission and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). That sounds great; after all, many of us have called for years for a return to content neutrality on social media where sites function more as communication platforms, similar to telephone companies. However, that is clearly not the intent of the bill’s sponsors, who see it as a weapon against “misinformation.” That was made clear by Klobuchar herself: “For too long, tech companies have said ‘Trust us, we’ve got this.’ But we know that social media platforms have repeatedly put profits over people, with algorithms pushing dangerous content that hooks users and spreads misinformation.”
Liberal groups like Public Knowledge which support the bill also openly discuss its real purpose, declaring that it will halt “the promotion of misinformation” and develop new avenues “to reduce the spread of misinformation.” Klobuchar has repeated such descriptions in support of the bill.
How is combatting “misinformation” content-neutral? The answer will be imposed by a new commission and lead to a site’s failure to take “appropriate” measures being declared “unfair or deceptive acts or practices.” That would create a glacial chilling effect on these companies, which will err on the side of censorship. After all, Democrats have maintained for years that “misinformation” is simply false and not really a matter a partisan content discrimination. With Nudge, Klobuchar seems to be making her own ‘Trust us, we’ve got this” pledge to fellow Democrats.
The key term used in the Act is “algorithmic amplification.” Klobuchar makes clear the intent to use algorithms to stop “pushing dangerous content.” Democrats in Congress have argued for years that these companies need to protect citizens from bad choices by using beneficent algorithms to guide us to “healthier” viewing and reading habits.
The most extreme effort was a letter from Democratic members to pressure companies like AT&T to reconsider whether viewers should be allowed to watch Fox News and other networks. It does not matter that Fox News is the most popular news cable station and even has a greater percentage of Democratic viewers than CNN. (For the record, I appear as a legal analyst on Fox). The members insisted that “not all TV news sources are the same” and called on these companies to protect viewers from “dissemination” of false viewpoints.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has called for these companies to protect citizens from poor reading choices by tweaking algorithms to steer them away from disfavored views. It is the free-speech version of the rejected “Big Gulp” laws. Warren wants companies to amplify “true” books on issues like climate change and direct searches away from “misleading” books.
Some liberal think tanks admit it is not clear that such manipulation of information will help, yet they still appear all-in on trying. Brookings Institution declared: “Even though cause and effect are hard to discern in social media, it is undeniable that algorithms contribute to hate speech and other information disorder on social media.”
If the Senate truly wanted content neutrality, it would not require a new army of internet apparatchiks. It would condition the continued immunity protection under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act on removing “content modification” and amplification programs. Instead, it seeks to place content under the oversight of a commission while reaffirming the need to stop, in Klobuchar’s words, the spread of “misinformation.”
There are aspects of the law that are positive, like the study of social media addiction and requirements for greater transparency from these companies. However, Congress is adept at the art of Trojan-horse legislation, and it is hard to argue against “studying” issues and recommending changes. Yet, this bill is designed to create a new system of content review and revision. It is viewed by the industry as designed “to slow down how misinformation or other harmful content spreads on social media.”
A governmental regulation combatting misinformation likely would be unconstitutional. However, the obvious desire is for these companies to self-regulate and avoid any problems through the “robust content modification” demanded by Democrats. Moreover, it is not clear how courts would react to “circuit-breaker” tactics that limit or slow the dissemination of information, though this also could “neutrally” slow all stories of public importance from going viral.
Despite the unrelenting campaign against free speech in Congress, there remain political and constitutional barriers that have proven insurmountable thus far. The United States remains a fortified Troy for free speech.
Notably, when the Greeks sought to take Troy, they hid their best warriors within the giant wooden horse that the Trojans then blissfully pulled into their city over the warnings of Trojan priest Laocoön. In this case, the crack troops hidden within Klobuchar’s wooden horse are expected to be the staff of the NAS and the FTC, who could cloak content modification in pseudo-scientific terms. They would be assisted by an increasingly anti-free speech media and academia, including the World Health Organization’s chief who recently supported censorship to combat “the infodemic.”
Before this Trojan Horse is wheeled into our own “city on the hill,” Americans should consider what’s inside the Nudge Act.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. Follow him on Twitter @JonathanTurley.
A constitutionally oath sworn official coercing a private company to censor does indeed violate the First Amendment. A government entity is driving the infringement on free speech, essentially “deputizing” a private company. That is outlawed under the First Amendment. Democrats once opposed things like “farming-out” torture and war crimes to private companies.
A better solution would be to adopt Jack Valenti’s Hollywood rating system (R, PG, Nudity, Violence, etc) that empowered parents or adults instead of government officials or those deputized by government officials. On social media, users could self-rate their postings before making them public.
Good comment Ashcroft.
Good comment Ashcroft.
Pre-empting our ears from being raped by debunkable stupidity (such as that which springs from Joy Reid’s pie hole) shouldn’t be considered censorship. It’s self-defense.
There is a lot of misinformation in the fiction section at the library. Crocodiles cannot really walk upright like humans. This childrens’ book is an affront to scientific truth and accuracy. It should be burned in a great bonfire.
Content neutral means no censorship. How can so-called censoring misinformation be content-neutral? End section 230. Make rules more transparent with a requirement of signatures for each invasion of privacy to protect against the accumulation of data on the individual. Don’t add fluff to the bill so that people focus on the fluff instead of free speech restrictions.
RULES FOR SPEACH AND OR SPEAKING ONES MIND ???? THE FIRST AMENDMENT CLEARLY STATES THAT “CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAWS BARRING FREEDOM OF SPEACH, THE PRESS OR RELIGION. PERIOD. EVEN THE SUPREME CPOURT RULED DECADES AGO THAT “SPEACH” IS PROTECTED UNDER THE FIRST AMENDMENT. WITHOUT THE OUR AMENDMENTS TO OUR CONSTITUTION WE’D BE NO BETTER THAN CUBA, NORTH LOREA OR CHINA AND CANADA RIGHT ABOUT NOW, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE DEMOCRATS ARE IN CHARGE AS THEY ARE NOW.
It isn’t easy to read all caps. One can’t tell if you are shouting or trying to emphasize something.
I presume that you agree with me.
Saying the virus came from a lab not from bats would have at one time been misinformation. Saying you can get the virus from surface contact same thing. Yet both of those original positions are the true misinformation. The earth was flat, to say otherwise at one time was misinformation.
The only answer for misinformation is information, not censorship.
A whole lot of “misinformation” stemming from the ‘plandemic’ has now been thoroughly debunked. Social distancing, deep cleaning, masks, the lock down, and the ‘vaccine’ have been added to that growing list of lies and insanity.! What was once categorized as misinformation is now solid information….information we were apparently not intended to have. .
One thing is sure…you can count on the GOP to help the Democrats rather than fighting them.
(OT)
Will Mark Meadows, Trump’s former WHCoS, be prosecuted for voter fraud?
Former NC congressman registered to vote in home where he purportedly never stayed
https://www.wral.com/former-nc-congressman-registered-to-vote-in-home-where-he-purportedly-never-stayed/20175679/
“State law says voter registration applications must be accurate and that residency refers to “where you physically live.” A voter who purposefully provides inaccurate information could be subject to several months of jail time if found guilty. Meadows didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Lawyers representing Meadows in a separate matter also didn’t respond to requests for comment.”
Stay on topic, Goebbels! What a triggered Leftist bozo! (But I repeat myself).
You’re the one who seems triggered.
Oh, the naiveté. When Obama was president, Google was literally working out of the White House. Does anyone really believe a 21st century Democrat (i.e. post Obama) will propose anything that actually reigns Silicon Valley in? If you do, see the first sentence of this comment. Open your eyes. And thank you Professor for the piece. Big tech is a legitimate plague, and they will not be as easy to defeat as the robber barons or Ma Bell.
HEADLINE:
“A Free Press Under Assault: Attempts to Silence Newsmax, OANN”
https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/jeffrey-lord/2022/03/05/free-press-under-assault-attempts-silence-newsmax-oann
Why has there been crickets from Turley on the cancellation of Fox’s cable competitors on the fringe Right? Anyone?
It’s well known that both Newsmax and OANN attack Fox for not supporting the Big Lie:
“Mike Lindell Rages At ‘Disgusting’ Fox News For Not Talking About 2020 Election”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mike-lindell-fox-news_n_61e4af7ae4b0c6802ee864ac
As a self-described “free speech originalist,” it’s mystifying that Turley ignores defending either Newsmax or OANN. Could it be that doing so would not be welcome by his employer?
Am I allowed to ask such questions without being attacked? Let’s see….
I’ve made that point myself many times. But what about Turley? Does he not hold himself out to us as an independent and impartial legal analyst? Or, if the truth be told, is he on the take as a Fox promoter?
Newsmax is an “Israel First” lobbying corp. masquerading as a news network.
You talking to me? I don’t know that to be true. I don’t watch Newsmax. It’s Trumpist propaganda.
Newsmax is run by Christopher Ruddy who is an American-born journalist.
Are you part of the crowd that blames Israel for not liking something? It is conservative. You are?
The masquerade is by the NYT that goes by the slogan, All the news fit to print. The NYT makes up news.
American liberals/leftists/progressives are jealous of Putin who beat them to the punch by outlawing “disinformation,” KGB style.
American liberals/leftists/progressives are disgusted by the dictator Putin. Trump is the one who calls Putin a “friend” and a “genius.”
Anon,
You say; “ American liberals/leftists/progressives are disgusted by the dictator Putin” but you fail to say why, if this is true, that the libs are , like Putin, promoting media censorship.
You may think that letting someone speak but removing the algorithmic amplification constitutes censorship. I don’t agree. Freedom of speech does not involve a guaranteed megaphone.
FREEDOM from Fools that’s all I ask!
Words by Katharine Lee Bates:
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea
The Democrat Party Want Fascism. In its simplest terms, fascism refers to a specific way of organizing a society: under fascism, a government ruled by a dictator controls the lives of the people in that society, and allows no dissent or disagreement.
“Putin should be ‘behind bars’ – last surviving Nuremberg Trials prosecutor”
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-700415
Klobutcher and her “legislation” must be struck down by the judicial branch.
Klobutcher and her merry gang of communists (liberals, progressives, socialists, democrats, RINOs) shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech.
Klobutcher and her merry gang of communists (liberals, progressives, socialists, democrats, RINOs) shall make no law depriving people of their private property, their right to “claim and exercise” dominion over their private property.
Klobutcher and all Americans are free to effect change by creating competitive social media platforms in the free markets of the private sector.
Klobutcher should be impeached and removed for subversion, sedition and treason – the nullification and voidance of the Constitution cannot continue and must be reversed.
What part of “Congress shall make no law” escapes these fools?
Do you likewise object to the federal perjury statute?
“Do you likewise object to the federal perjury statute?”
A per-usual red herring that is irrelevant to arguments against the censorious “Nudge Act.”
It’s not irrelevant to the comment I was responding to. You seem to be having trouble understanding the comment in context.
Perhaps the “Nudge Act” would be nudging us into Chinese-style “reeducation camps.”
https://thenationalpulse.com/2022/03/07/wef-young-leader-advocated-for-ccp-re-education-camp/
If only…
One person’s information is another person’s information.
I don’t need to hear or see alternative viewpoints to work through how the official view might itself be disinformation … the fact that they ban or censor alternative viewpoints tends to confirm the official view is indeed disinformation.
Sorry, but I just don’t know what to say. We have very nearly fully capitulated to Silicon Valley, and there were warnings aplenty ten+years ago that no one cared to listen to. it didn’t have to be this way, yet, here we are. it will take grit the size of which we have never seen to turn the tide. The Spaniards came to the Americas for gold, which was the most valuable thing at the time, (and not one iota has changed in 600 years. Decide once and for all whether or not you are an ethical person, whatever your background). This is probably it; will the West be free? Decide, whoever you are.
Do I notice a sense of self-righteous panic that the endless lies from the extremely effective Russian intelligence and disinformation sources designed to destroy America from within and reflected and amplified through Fox News et al might become illegal? Oh dear, how awful. That Russian poison will no longer be dripped into American veins, no longer tolerated. OMG…Dupes really need to find a mirror, look into it and recognizes that they are dupes for Russia. Free speech for those who would destroy us. Good Plan…
Acromion, your asking a crowd who would rather be Russian than a Democrat? Who believe that Putin is a real leader? Good luck……….
You mean the way you think Joe Biden is a “real leader”? Good luck…..
LOL. Hoorah, finally a spoof of fishwings/silverman/etc.
Almost had me going there.
CARE must be taken in allowing others the rights to determine what, when or how to think and speak. They have no greater understanding of what Utopia is or if it actually exists so their proffers of a la-la land must be laid to waste. As Moses the raven was quoted as saying in Animal Farm “Up there, comrades, up there, just on the other side of that dark cloud that you can see-there it lies, Sugarcandy Mountain, that happy country where we poor animals shall rest for ever from our labours!” He reasoned for everlasting fields of clover, linseed cake and lumps of sugar growing on hedges, and that a better world existed there on Sugarcandy Mountain.
Could Moses the Raven have been a Charlatan or another Woke Despot endeavoring to control others in hopes of perfect Utopia?
The Lilly Livered Democratic Woke scoundrels should be rejected and removed from any leadership position at all levels of government (elected-appointed or employed) if we wish to remain a civilized and free society.