Democrats Threaten Social Media To Regulate Content, ‘Or They Will’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In their usual style, Democrats on Capitol Hill threatened to stick the long arm of government into places it shouldn’t be – this time it came in the form of threats to regulate freedom of speech on the internet because they have deluded themselves into thinking Russia-backed propaganda, such as Facebook accounts and the like were responsible for Donald Trump’s election victory. In their mind, that is unacceptable, and calls for more government regulation.

From the Daily Wire:

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) complained that the platforms had been “misused.” She threatened, “you have to be the ones who do something about it — or we will.”

“I must say, I don’t think you get it. You’re general counsels, you defend your company. What we’re talking about is a cataclysmic change. What we’re talking about is the beginning of cyber warfare. What we’re talking about is a major foreign power with the sophistication and ability to involve themselves in a presidential election and sow conflict and discontent all over this country. We are not going to go away, gentlemen. And this is a very big deal. I went home last night with profound disappointment. I asked specific questions, I got vague answers. And that just won’t do. You have a huge problem on your hands. And the U.S. is going to be the first of the countries to bring it to your attention, and other countries are going to follow I’m sure. Because you bear this responsibility.”

[…]

Regulating the internet is a dangerous business. It’s particularly dangerous when the question isn’t Russian lawbreaking but Russian disinformation campaigns. Campaign finance reform prevents foreign countries from making election contributions. But what about generalized political advertising? We have lobbyists who do that every day. And RT operates right out in the open.

Here’s the question: is there more danger to the First Amendment from Russians buying ads on Facebook that touch on American politics, or from members of the federal government seeking to regulate the content that can be posted on Facebook and how such content is posted?

That’s a good question, with an easy answer. Russian propaganda or not, Democrats have been driving to regulate speech for decades and are using the contrived Russia/Trump narrative to continue their assault on the First Amendment.

From shutting down Conservative speakers on college campuses, to seeking to censor talk radio and internet blogs under the guise of the Fairness Doctrine, ‘Liberals’ cannot stand the fact that they cannot control peoples’ free speech.

If government is allowed to regulate media content, or any form of speech, the pillars of freedom that America is built upon will be sufficiently eroded so as to crumble into utter Statism. This is what the Soviets did, and Chinese Communists, and North Korean dictators currently do. It is a method of controlling the information as a means to control the population, and it is antithetical to freedom.

Stop this nonsense.