Social media sites do not act like the “town square” when they censor conservatives and pick “winners and losers,” House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., said Friday while responding to the latest hearing between lawmakers and the heads of Twitter, Facebook and Google.
“They are abusing platforms and hiding behind Section 230 of the law that gives them immunity from prosecution, yet they are not just acting like the town square. They’re censoring, and picking winners and losers in a forum where people thought they were going to be going just to exchange information with friends and to be able to put ideas out there,” Scalise said on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.”
Conservatives are targeted by social media platforms, with Twitter having the “worst abuses,” said Scalise, pointing out the platform’s decision to block the New York Post article concerning Hunter Biden and his laptop.
“When I asked Jack Dorsey of Twitter about the New York Post article, I’m glad he admitted that shouldn’t have happened,” Scalise said. “That’s the kind of stuff that angers people.”
Last week, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., was blocked on Twitter for 12 hours, but that was said to have been “a mistake,” which raises even more questions, Scalise said.
“Who is making these mistakes? Is it really a mistake?” said Scalise. “Why aren’t people being held accountable? [Dorsey] refused to answer who is doing this, and if they’ve even been held accountable. These aren’t mistakes.”
The question also came up about whether former President Donald Trump will be allowed to return to Facebook, Scalise said, and the site’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he would not block the return if the site’s oversight board says Trump should be allowed back.
“President Trump is banned on Twitter,” Scalise said. “How selective are they in determining who they ban from their platforms? It seems like it is conservatives being banned by and large. The ayatollah can put out things talking about death to Israel and America. You look at the Chinese Communist Party spreading disinformation right now on Twitter.”
He pointed out that The Washington Post recently admitted to incorrectly reporting the details involved in a telephone call between Trump and Georgia election officials, and noted that because Trump is banned from Twitter, he can’t refute the article on there publicly.
“This is the double standard that people are very angry about, and it has to get confronted,” Scalise said.
Dorsey, Zuckerberg and Google’s Sundar Pichai, all of whom testified on Thursday, also testified during several congressional hearings last year, sometimes under threat of subpoena.
Source: Newmax
