Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., took to Sean Hannity’s show to defend his lawsuit against Twitter: “Our First Amendment rights are at stake here.” But that is like saying that Nerf needs to make a football that I can actually throw in a spiral, and if it doesn’t it is threatening my freedom. It is just ridiculous.
Twitter isn’t perfect. For instance, during the recent annual gathering of conservatives at the Conservative Political Action Conference, real-time mentions were higher for #CPAC than most of the items on Twitter’s “Trending” top 10. Alas, CPAC was nowhere to be found in the trending topics, and CPAC noticed. Bernie Sanders’ campaign announcement was there at No. 2 despite having fewer mentions.
That isn’t okay, and fortunately this probably isn’t all right with the rest of Twitter’s users or, more importantly, advertisers. Therefore, Twitter is likely trying to find ways to improve its system. It is a business. It relies on the trust of its users, and if that trust erodes so does the user’s demand for its platform. That is the way markets work.
But since it isn’t an agency of the government, it doesn’t need to be perfect. The Constitution doesn’t guarantee that Twitter will let me say anything I want, and it doesn’t say that a company should be compelled to promote my speech.
Nunes does have a reasonable gripe, though he has been made fun of on the platform. Maybe Twitter should provide a trigger warning for the congressman when he logs in? Or maybe he should rely on markets to do the policing for him. The best check on what a company can and can’t do is capitalism.
Unfortunately, the major platforms have noticed these attacks from Nunes and others, and they have started to act accordingly — if they can’t avoid regulation, they have begun calling for regulation. That call is likely in hopes that any regulation they help to draft at least won’t be as bad as what might happen if they weren’t involved.
Like Twitter, Facebook has been accused of bias, and like Twitter, Facebook has to make tough calls all day long. While I believe Facebook has done a much better job than Twitter — a much, much better job — it has also had its brand affected by congressional attacks. It’s understandable that if Congress is going to attack it, it would attempt to join the table instead of fight from the outside. This is something businesses have done time and time again. Just read Rockefeller’s biography; he was a master at working with the government.
Just because someone asks for more regulation doesn’t mean that it is the right policy.
Nunes’ remarks and the push for more regulation are alarming to me, but realistically they are just outgrowth of other troubling statements that we have seen from the Right over the past couple of years. We have a seen a new right-leaning ideology that seems to favor regulation over competition. When it benefits them or is popular with voters, they have supported expanding power instead of restricting it.
This “New Right” might not support Democratic-Socialism, but their embrace of populism might even be worse. From some of my former media heroes embracing populist policies like a wall to a popular Republican senator’s embrace of Elizabeth Warren’s call to tear apart social media companies, and now Nunes’ lawsuit against Twitter.
The New Right is embracing populism and using fear-mongering populist arguments as their justification. They should focus on making sure America remains a world economic lead, not on protecting their own egos.
Charles Sauer (@CharlesSauer) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is president of the Market Institute and previously worked on Capitol Hill, for a governor, and for an academic think tank.
