Wicker Readying Common Carrier Bill for Platforms

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., plans to introduce legislation to regulate online platforms like common carriers, he told us Monday. Citing a recent opinion from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas advocating for such (see 2104090046), Wicker hoped to introduce the bill this week.

Wicker discussed his plans in response to questions about Facebook’s two-year ban for former President Donald Trump (see 2106040066). “If you’re an electric company and you hate Donald Trump, you still have to run power to his house,” Wicker said. “If you’re a bus and you hate Joe Manchin, even though you’re a private company, you can’t deny him access to this common carrier.” Manchin is a West Virginia Democratic U.S. senator.

What’s happening with “super, powerful platforms is wrong and outrageous,” Wicker said. He and his staff worked on the legislation over the Memorial Day break. “We’re bouncing it off the last few sources to get some feedback,” he said, noting he’s also circulating the bill with legislators. Republicans and Democrats “are concerned about powerful platforms deciding what can and cannot be said based on standards,” he said.

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said Facebook should have banned Trump permanently: “It seems to me that if you’re banning someone for precipitating an insurrection, you’ve already crossed the threshold that they don’t deserve to be on the platform. It’s not like they should get a temporary ban.”

Schatz’s opinion is understandable, said Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va. But Warner said Facebook’s decision “feels about right.” It shows Congress needs to set rules “rather than simply deferring to the senior management team at Facebook,” Warner added.

That Facebook can ban Trump is “dangerous for our country,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.: “They’re more common carriers than they are a private company. If I were Trump, I would sue them. A phone company doesn’t ban somebody for using the phone.”

“It bothers me that these companies are playing such a significant role in the political discourse of our country,” said Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan. “To be able to ban somebody, particularly somebody who’s been the president of the United States, it troubles me.” Facebook is a company with power that’s not “healthy” for democracy, he added.

“I don’t like the fact that Facebook is censoring anyone,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. “It has nothing to do with the president or anybody else. Facebook has stepped way over the line.” Legislators need to reach agreement on what's defined as “poison,” or objectionable content, he said. With government “involvement,” there needs to be a “common definition” of “poison,” and that’s “what should be prohibited. ... Everything else should be allowed,” Kennedy said. Facebook declined to comment Tuesday.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation urged Facebook to endorse the Santa Clara Principles, which outline best practices for content moderation. The real issue is that Facebook’s “policy choices have so much power in the first place,” wrote Legal Director Corynne McSherry and International Freedom of Expression Director Jillian York. Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights interim CEO Wade Henderson called Trump’s ban a “step in the right direction -- but only if Facebook follows through and consistently enforces these actions.”