Should Social Media Silence Its Users?

    Last month the Texas state senate approved a bill that relates directly to what we’ve been learning about the Six Clauses of the First Amendment and the Eight Values of Free Expression. The Republican senator, Bryan Hughes, who sponsored the legislation, accuses social media companies of silencing free speech in violation of the First Amendment. This new bill would stop giants such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter from blocking, banning, or discriminating against Texas users based upon their viewpoints. It would also require social media companies to publish policies regarding content removal, while creating an appeals process for content that has been taken down. This proposal seems to be in response to Twitter’s deletion of more than 70,000 accounts of conspiracy groups that were connected to the attack on the US Capitol.

    Hughes also states that since social media companies are private organizations, they are exempt from first Amendment violations enforced by the government. He believes that liberal Democrats are behind the decision of Facebook and Twitter to remove the conservative opinions of Texans on those platforms. Even Texas governor Greg Abbot supports the bill, stating that social media is leading a “dangerous movement to silence conservative ideas”.

    I have mixed feelings about this bill, as I do agree that social media has a generally positive impact on society, promoting Tolerance, Stable Change, and Discovery of Truth. However, even though the First Amendment guarantees many freedoms, it does not protect “fighting words” that I often see on social media, which can agitate dangerous people and disturb the peace.

    On the other hand, I know from personal experience the great power that social media companies have 

over people’s accounts. For example, my brother’s Twitter account with 35k followers was unexplainably 

taken down last year, and there was no way for him to contact Twitter to ask why. Also, a film director I 

know had his entire YouTube channel taken down, also without explanation. These two individuals were 

extremely frustrated because there was no one to call, email, or even chat with online about the removal, 

which had a direct impact on their livelihood. So I do agree with the bill’s language that there should be a 

way to appeal directly to social media companies.

 

    This new legislation in Texas sheds a light on what, if any, impact the First Amendment should have on 

social media. It opens an important debate about difficulties of online content, what to allow, and where 

the limits of free speech should be on these changing and growing platforms of communication.