Kevin McCarthy: 'It's Time to Scrap' Section 230 Protections

House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said Thursday that “it’s time to scrap” special protections for social media giants under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA).

“The biggest social networks are selectively censoring information,” McCarthy wrote in a tweet, linking to his press conference on the matter. “It’s time to scrap their special protections under Section 230 and start over.”

https://mobile.twitter.com/GOPLeader/status/1316764966255435776

“Less than three weeks away, many Americans are eager to learn about the candidates,” McCarthy said. “It is imperative our information channels are open and Americans can access stories by the press and their own social circles.”

McCarthy then began discussing Section 230 and the censorship of the New York Post‘s story that alleged Hunter Biden “facilitated” a meeting between his father, former Vice President Joe Biden, and a Ukrainian gas company.

Congress believed in the power of information so much they created special liability protections for information platforms, technology companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google. It is called section 230. I believe in the principles outlined in the law. But is clear Section 230, in its current form, is not working.
It is time to scrap the law and start over. Yesterday, the New York Post, one of the country’s largest newspapers, published a piece on Hunter Biden, and his work on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma. She had no qualifications. It is an important story as most Americans would be appalled… The response from many in the media and Twitter and Facebook bring to light an even bigger concern, the biggest social networks censoring information. If you are a citizen and posted information in the story, your account was locked.

Did big tech censor the media and Americans when they posted about the unverified later debunked steel dossier? Did big tech censor the media and Americans when they posted about Trump’s taxes which were, of course, obtained illegally? Did big tech sensor the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism, the supreme leader of Iran? The answer to all three questions is no.

In addition to his comments on social media censorship, McCarthy said he and his Republican colleagues have been “relentless to get Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi to provide needed relief for Americans.”

“She continues to turn her back to focus on politics, not people,” McCarthy added.