McMorris Rodgers Leads Aggressive Effort to Hold Big Tech Accountable, Announces Next Steps to Reform Section 230

Washington, D.C. (July 28, 2021) – Eastern Washington Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) today announced she is leading Energy and Commerce Republicans in an aggressive effort to hold Big Tech accountable, including reforms to Section 230.

“Big Tech can no longer be allowed to hide behind Section 230. Today, we are releasing our solution to remove Big Tech altogether from Section 230 and put them under new obligations that will hold them more accountable for censoring Americans. It’s time to expose Big Tech’s bias and make sure they treat constitutionally protected speech fairly.” – Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) and Jim Jordan (OH-04)

Big Tech is increasingly becoming a destructive force to our society as they continue to attack freedom of speech and the truth without consequence. They are silencing conservatives and speech that doesn’t fit the liberal agenda and orthodoxy. Cathy is joined by Representative Jim Jordan (OH-04) in releasing a discussion draft that: 

• Removes large companies from Section 230 blanket liability protections. 
• Holds major platforms accountable for the decisions they make related to content moderation. Furthermore, any future protections they receive would only be related to speech not protected by the First Amendment. 
• Empowers Americans to challenge censorship and deplatforming by requiring these companies to implement and maintain user-friendly appeals processes.  
• Exposes censorship by requiring these companies to file quarterly disclosures that are made publicly available.  
• Forces Congress to re-evaluate Big Tech’s behavior related to speech again in five years to ensure they are held accountable. 
• Protects innovation and small businesses by targeting these new obligations only to large companies.

As Lead Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee, Cathy is leading a comprehensive package of discussion draft bills to hold Big Tech accountable by improving transparency and content moderation accountability, reforming Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, promoting competition, and preventing illegal and harmful activity on their platforms. 

“Big Tech has failed to promote the battle of ideas and free speech by censoring political viewpoints they disagree with. They also don’t do enough to keep our children safe or address illegal content on their platforms. Big Tech has broken our trust that they can be good and responsible stewards of their platforms. Today, Energy and Commerce Republicans are building on our leadership to hold Big Tech accountable.

“Guided by our Big Tech Accountability Platform, we are releasing discussion draft bills for Big Tech to be transparent, uphold American values for free speech, and stop their abuse of power that is harming our children. Our goal is for these drafts to lead to concrete legislation. Every Republican member of the Energy and Commerce Committee is leading on solutions, and I’m grateful for their hard work to drive meaningful and needed change.” – Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05)

To hold Big Tech accountable, Energy and Commerce Republicans unveiled solutions that will address:

• Section 230 Reform
• Content Moderation Practices
• Protecting Children from Mental Health Harms and Cyberbullying
• Improving Transparency
• Overall Accountability

CLICK HERE for the full list of draft discussion bills.

CLICK HERE for more information on Energy and Commerce Republican efforts to hold Big Tech accountable.  

CLICK HERE to read the Big Tech Accountability Platform.  

NOTE: The goal is for these drafts is to lead to concrete legislation and reforms. The Committee is asking for stakeholder and public engagement on these draft bills as part of their thoughtful process in their Big Tech Accountability platform to drive meaningful change.

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