NC legislators want you to be able to sue Facebook for ‘censoring’ your posts
State Senate Republicans want to give Facebook users the option to sue social media giants for censoring what the companies consider offensive posts.
Similar bills with identical titles have been filed in multiple other states, part of an effort by an activist who’s best known for trying to marry his computer in a protest of same-sex marriage. Senate Bill 497, titled the “Stop Social Media Censorship Act,” is sponsored by Sen. Ted Alexander, R-Cleveland.
The bill says social media companies can be sued if they delete someone’s “religious speech or political speech” or use “an algorithm to disfavor, shadowban or censure the user’s religious speech or political speech.”
The lawsuits could seek up to $75,000, and the bill says “a social media website may not utilize a user’s alleged hate speech as a basis for justification or as a defense.”
Facebook is among the opponents of the measure.
“We believe these measures will not pass once policymakers realize that they undermine efforts to remove harmful content, such as bullying, hate speech, and sexualized photos of minors,” said Will Castleberry, Facebook’s vice president of state and local policy, in a statement to the NC Insider. “We support updated rules for the internet and believe that it is possible to protect both free expression and the people who use our platform.”
Recent reporting by the Missouri Independent shows that activist and attorney Chris Sevier is promoting bills with the same title in multiple legislatures, testifying in hearings in Missouri.
Asked if Sevier proposed the legislation here, Alexander said in an emailed statement that “this legislation was proposed to me by a former Judge Advocate General (JAG) in the U.S. Military who was also a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and Constitutional Federal litigator.”
That’s how Sevier has described his professional background in his past legal filings.
But he’s also been labeled a “security concern” at the Missouri statehouse after “suspicious” interactions with legislative staffers there, the Missouri Independent reported.
Sevier is best known for filing lawsuits against states that prevented him from marrying his laptop, a publicity move as part of his opposition to same-sex marriage.
His law license in Tennessee has been on “inactive disability” status since 2011. He also made headlines when he faced charges he’d stalked country singer John Rich following a copyright dispute (Sevier is also a musician). Court records show him pleading guilty to a lesser charge that was a misdemeanor.
Sevier posted on Facebook about a visit to North Carolina’s legislature just days before the bill was filed.
“To be clear I’m here to win,” he later posted on Facebook. “I’m stoked that Senator Alexander introduced SB 497 to Stop Social Media Censorship.”
In his emailed statement, Alexander dismissed the focus on Sevier’s involvement.
“The media has shown much interest in the origin of this bill rather than what this legislation seeks to accomplish, which should be the chief story,” he said. “Social media has rapidly become the new ‘Town Square’ and free speech is not a partisan issue. The Stop Social Media Censorship Act enforces existing laws, giving teeth to censorship violations.”
Both Alexander’s statement and a document of “talking points” posted on a website linked to Sevier about the national effort say that the bill would use “the state law exemption already built into Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act” to accomplish its goal.
NC bill targets app store bans
Rep. Jeff McNeely, R-Iredell, also voiced his support for the measure in a recent episode of The News & Observer’s Under the Dome podcast and said he’s working with the senator on the proposal.
McNeely called the bill a “constitutional issue.” The social media companies, he said, “have decided who can speak and who can be silenced. We must be able to have some recourse.” He argued that the bill would “allow people to state their grievance they have, and give them a pathway to be able to monetarily fight back.”
McNeely hasn’t yet introduced a version of the bill in the House, but he has filed other legislation that takes aim at big tech companies.
House Bill 494, titled the “Digital Interference Censorship Act,” addresses decisions by the Apple and Google app stores to ban certain apps, such as the social media site Parler, because the apps were used to incite riots and other violence.
HB 494 would ban the owners of app stores from banning apps based on “the religious or political content of the developer’s application” or “the religious or political content of users of the developer’s application.” The attorney general’s office would investigate complaints about any violations of the law, and app developers would be able to sue.
Under the Dome
With the start of the new year and a new legislative session, The News & Observer has launched a new Under the Dome podcast. We’re unpacking legislation and issues that matter to keep you updated on what’s happening in North Carolina politics twice a week on Monday and Friday mornings. Check us out here and sign up for our weekly Under the Dome newsletter for more political news.
