Rep. Jim Jordan: Congress Should Investigate Free Speech Restrictions by Social Media Companies

In a column for Fox News, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) argued that Congress should investigate social media speech restrictions.

Rep. Jim Jordan wrote a column for Fox News on the topic of censorship on social media. Jordan argued that social media companies have quickly become the biggest threat to open expression in America.

Jordan writes:

Any attack on free speech is troubling, but big tech’s assault is the most troubling. Social media are now part of every American’s life, and big social media companies have unbelievable control over the type and flow of information. If they can restrict certain types of speech, then their ability to impact elections and public policy is virtually unlimited.

The First Amendment was written to protect speech – and not just speech that we agree with. Congress needs to have more hearings and more oversight, which would mean more information for the American people.

Congress should also look to appoint a task force to examine all restrictions placed on the First Amendment, with a specific focus on social media companies. This is not a partisan issue. Free speech is fundamental to the health of our great country, and Congress should treat it with the respect it deserves.

And Jordan isn’t wrong. In a social media landscape that is dominated by just a few major companies, a handful of high-ranking executives hold the power to kill a person’s Internet presence with the click of a button.

Rep. Jordan addressed the issue of private censorship in a September interview with Breitbart News. “Well, they are private companies, they can run your company the way you want. At the same time, you can’t put yourself out there as an open platform where all ideas, conservative and liberal, are welcome,” Jordan said. “You can’t say that and then not actually have that happen. So if you’re a private company and you want to censor certain types of speech, then you can do that. But then you’re much more of a newspaper than an open platform.”