During a speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) reacted to Twitter’s ban on political ads by stating that “Twitter will either have to ban opinion journalists and the press from advertising their own work, or else create an enormous double standard that would just amplify the already privileged speakers” and that the reasoning behind the ban “gives way to an arbitrary process of picking winners and losers in the competition of ideas.”
McConnell said Twitter’s rationale “quickly gives way to an arbitrary process of picking winners and losers in the competition of ideas. … Twitter’s new rules would seem to forbid either a small, liberal nonprofit or a small, conservative nonprofit from putting money behind an issue ad to amplify their perspective. But what about the press? Will media corporations large and small remain free to buy paid advertising to promote editorials and opinion writers? Will cable news networks and national newspapers remain free to advertise their political speech? It would seem, Mr. President, that Twitter will either have to ban opinion journalists and the press from advertising their own work, or else create an enormous double standard that would just amplify the already privileged speakers who already possess multimillion-dollar platforms. It would just help clear the field for those elites by denying the same tools to fledgling speakers who are not already famous.”
(h/t the Hill)
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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