Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Saturday that social media companies must moderate the content on their platforms or they “lose complete control.”
Clinton told CNN host Michael Smerconish that while some steps have been taken at the state level to regulate social media, she would like to see the federal government do more to moderate content. he said.
“If you look at California and New York, I think some other states have taken action as well,” Clinton said.
“But we need national action, and sadly our Congress is dysfunctional when it comes to addressing these threats to children,” she added.
Clinton said the issue should be “at the top of every legislative and political agenda” and that online platforms should be held accountable for third-party content, including user content on the internet. They called for the repeal of Article 230 of the Communications Act, which protects online platforms from social media. This disclaimer applies to the content itself and its removal in certain circumstances.
“In my opinion, we should get rid of something called Section 230, which gives immunity to platforms on the internet, because they are just a pass-through, judged by the content that is posted. Because it was thought that we shouldn't do it,'' Clinton said.
“But we now know that that was an overly simplistic view. No matter the platform: Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok, if you don't manage and monitor your content, “We lose complete control,” she continued. “And it has not only social and psychological effects, but also real-life effects.”
Clinton said social media companies should be stripped of their immunity so they can put “guardrails” in place.
She said cell phone use should be restricted in schools, an initiative approved by several U.S. states, including Florida and California. Individual school districts in various states across the country have also adopted policies banning or restricting cell phone use during school hours.
“Take your cell phone out of school,” she said. “It’s great to see schools starting to take steps to have children return their phones when they walk in the door.”
“And guess what? Kids started paying more attention in class,” Clinton added. “They're talking to each other in the lunchroom. It's something that was part of your daily life when you were a kid, when you were in school.”
Last month, Clinton appeared on MSNBC and cited the 2016 election that she lost to Trump, saying that the Americans accused of interfering in the U.S. election by spreading “propaganda” promoting former President Trump have filed a civil lawsuit. Or suggested he should face criminal charges.
