In the run-up to the 2020 election, FBI officials Flagged They posted the tweets and emailed Twitter employees about possible removal. What caught their eye? One user tweeted that he was a vote tallyer, declaring, “For every negative comment on this post, I will add one vote to the Democrat Party.” Another wrote, “Fellow Americans, Vote Today. Democrats, Vote Wednesday the 9th.”
These are just two of many ridiculous examples. Private communication This is a series of incidents between federal government officials and Twitter employees that spans two presidential administrations, and is one of the few we know about thanks to Elon Musk’s Twitter account. “Twitter File” To a small group of journalists.
These documents were not only sent by federal government employees, but as of 2022 Meet regularly Twitter employees and government officials Similar Playbooks They urged Facebook employees to block, remove, downgrade or ban users and posts from the platform.
Americans should not rely solely on leaks or public disclosures of government censorship requests by private companies to expose these threats to free expression. Congress should pass legislation requiring government agencies to publicly report content moderation requests made to social media companies.
Recent vote — A survey conducted by Ipsos and the organization where I work Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) — This shows that Americans don’t trust their government to regulate social media content. Only 20% of people surveyed say they have at least some confidence in their government to make fair decisions about what information can be posted on social media platforms. Even worse, 52% of Democrats and 79% of Republicans surveyed expressed distrust.
The First Amendment to the Constitution prohibits government censorship of speech on social media, with some limited exceptions. But rather than directly censor speech, officials covertly contacted social media employees at Facebook and Twitter to get them to do their dirty work. And this pernicious, informal pressure was “A mere excuse,By the time the news was released, the damage had already been done.
The Biden administration’s actions have naturally found their way to federal court. The Supreme Court Murthy v. Missouri — Courts may soon decide whether government officials’ actions range from permissible persuasion to unconstitutional coercion or excessive interference with private editorial decisions. While we believe that courts should establish clear standards for identifying these forms of censorship, one concern remains: even if a favorable ruling is made, the public will never know about circumstances in which verbal pressure may have taken place. After all, we will only know what government officials did months or years after the fact.
So what do we do? How do we combat behind-the-scenes censorship that we don’t know about?
Regardless of who you vote for or what you believe, Americans should be able to agree on this: When government officials pressure social media companies to censor what their users say, we should know about it. Federal officials and contractors should publicly disclose any content moderation requests made to social media platforms. And FIRE should It was published This is model legislation to achieve exactly that.
This legislation would allow Americans to know within 72 hours when the federal government is communicating with social media companies and what that communication is about. This not only helps prevent overreach, but also gives Americans the right to challenge censorship the moment they become aware of it. The bill’s requirements would make it clear which social media companies government officials are communicating with.
For years, social media users have suspected that there were censors behind the scenes manipulating what their followers could and couldn’t see. It sounded like a delusion at the time, but it turned out to be true. To restore trust in social media and protect Americans’ freedom of speech online, Congress must require government officials to exercise strict oversight over communications with the platforms where America’s national conversation takes place.
It is time for Congress to bring these secret conversations to light and protect Americans’ free speech from deep state censorship.
John Coleman is legislative counsel for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).
