Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., says there should be “consequences” for social media platforms that don’t remove content from somebody who is a “bad actor” like conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
During an interview with Recode’s Kara Swisher, Wyden said he is working on a privacy bill that will protect people’s data. He stressed that he doesn’t favor government control of private companies, but the Democrat said there needs to be a hard look at the “Alex Jones case.”
“I think what the Alex Jones case shows, we’re gonna really be looking at what the consequences are for just leaving common decency in the dust,” Wyden said.
“What I’m gonna be trying to do in my legislation is to really lay out what the consequences are when somebody who is a bad actor, somebody who really doesn’t meet the decency principles that reflect our values, if that bad actor blows by the bounds of common decency, I think you gotta have a way to make sure that stuff is taken down,” he said.
“If we were talking about really horrible pornography, I think they would have moved pretty quickly to deal with it,” he said. “I think it’s also worth noting that, with respect to Alex Jones, there are probably a thousand accounts out there that are as bad as Alex Jones.”
[Also read: Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo says Twitter may have shadow banned tweet about James Clapper]
For years, Jones has cultivated a following who have listened to him allege that the Sept. 11 terror attacks were an inside job, the Sandy Hook school massacre was a hoax, and that a “New World Order” will commit a mass genocide. In July, Jones called special counsel Robert Mueller a “monster” and a “pedophile” while threatening to shoot him and also accused technology giants of shadow-banning him.
Content from Jones and his far-right Infowars website were removed from most major social media and online platforms earlier this month, including Facebook, Apple, and YouTube, following violations of their hate speech policies. Twitter slapped him with a seven-day suspension for similarly infringing its code of conduct last week, but so far has resisted a full-out ban.
In a tweet Wednesday, Jones pinned a tweet on his page that said Wyden was calling for him to be “banned” from the web, but a spokesman for the senator emphasized to the Washington Examiner that Wyden’s forthcoming legislation won’t address how private companies should be run and that he was calling for accountability from customers and shareholders.
President Trump has warned against censorship by technology companies, alleging it discriminates against “Republican/Conservative voices.”
“Speaking loudly and clearly for the Trump Administration, we won’t let that happen,” Mr. Trump said. “Censorship is a very dangerous thing & absolutely impossible to police,” he tweeted last week. “Let everybody participate, good & bad, and we will all just have to figure it out!”
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to say Sen. Ron Wyden wants there to be “consequences” for “bad actors” on social media, but isn’t introducing legislation that would address the issue.
