Extending the Undertaking Spam, Spyware, and Fraud Enforcement with Enforcers Beyond Borders Act of 2006

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, we are 40 days today from a general election--40 days--40 days until the American people make their choice, or at least that is the idea.

But there are a group of people who seem intent on influencing the people's choice, on manipulating it, on shaping it according to their own preferences. I am not talking about China or Russia or Iran; I am talking about a group of corporations--the most powerful corporations in the history of this Nation, the most powerful corporations in the history of the world. I am talking about being Big Tech.

We know who they are. They run the giant digital platforms, the places where Americans communicate and share their opinions. But those platforms are more than that. They are more than places to talk or buy things. Facebook and Google, Twitter and Instagram and YouTube--these are the platforms that control more and more of our daily lives.

And, yes, I said ``control.'' These platforms control our social communication, the way that we talk to each other, when and how, where, and on what terms. They control what news we read or even what news we see.

They control more and more journalism in America, right down to what is in news articles and how the headlines are written.

They control how elected officials communicate with their constituents, when they can run advertisements, what their messages can say and can't.

And they want to control us. Big Tech platforms relentlessly spy on their customers--you and me. They track us around the web. They monitor our every move online and even when we are offline.

They track our location and whether we are in a car or riding a bike or on the street. They track the websites that we visit and when. They track the things that we buy. They track the videos that we watch. They track what our children are doing. They track everything--all with the purpose of getting enough information on each one of us to influence us, to shape our preferences and opinions and viewpoints.

This is enormous power--unheard of power--and the Big Tech platforms are intent on using it. They are intent on using it in this election.

Let's just cut to the chase: The Big Tech platforms are owned and operated by woke capitalists. They are leftists. They are liberals. They are not conservatives. They are no friend to conservatives. They fervently opposed the election of Donald Trump and other conservatives in 2016. They fervently oppose it this year.

Now they are trying to use their power to shape the outcome of an election. For months, the tech platforms have been engaging in escalating acts of censorship--political censorship--aimed at conservatives.

They have censored the President of the United States. They have banned pro-life groups from their sites. They have tried to silence independent conservative journalists like the Federalist.

Now, the censorship is never against liberals, notice. No, Joe Biden isn't censored. Pro-choice groups aren't discriminated against. Liberal news sites, they don't get threatened and bullied and shut out.

No, Big Tech targets conservatives for censorship for a simple reason: They don't like conservatives. They don't agree with conservatives. They don't want to see conservatives get elected.

Here is the thing: If they are allowed to use their power in this way, if they are permitted to leverage their control over news and information and data to silence the voices of conservatives, then we will be turning control of our government over to them.

Big Tech targets conservatives for censorship for a simple reason: They don't like conservatives. They don't agree with conservatives.

We will be turning control of our elections over to them, control of the Nation over to them. Let's just be clear. No corporation should run America. No set of corporate overlords should substitute their judgment for the judgment of ``we the people.'' No woke capitalists should be able to shape the outcome of an election by silencing speech. That is why we have to act, and act today.

There is a simple, straightforward solution to the censorship power of these digital platforms: Let those who have been censored claim their rights. Let them sue. Let them go to court. Let them challenge the decisions of the tech platforms and have their day before the bar of the law. Right now, Federal law prohibits this. It prevents Americans from challenging the tech platforms and their censorship. It prevents Americans from challenging just about anything that the tech companies do.

That should change. That is why today I urge this body to adopt my legislation, which I have proudly introduced, along with Senators Rubio, Cotton, Braun, and Loeffler, to give every American who is unfairly censored the right to have his or her day in court, the right to stand and be heard, the right to fairness and due process of law. 3983 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I will just say to my friend, the Democratic Senator describes a world that just doesn't exist. He says Section 230 protects the little guy? Section 230 protects the most powerful corporations in the history of the world. Google and Facebook aren't the little guy. Instagram and Twitter aren't the little guy.

Do you know who is left vulnerable by those mega corporations? The people who don't have a voice. The people who, when they get deplatformed, don't have an option. If you are silenced by Google or Facebook or Twitter, what is your option? None. Nothing. You can't be heard. You can't go to court. You can't do anything.

Every American should have the right, if they are unfairly discriminated against because of their political views, to at least be heard in court.

Section 230, as it exists today and as it is currently being applied, protects the most powerful corporations. It protects and has protected human traffickers. It protects some of the worst abuses of free speech in our society. That is why I will continue to fight to have it reformed and continue to fight to give the American people a voice.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source