The official account of the GOP Senate Majority reported that Facebook shut down Republican ads aimed at voters in the upcoming Georgia runoff, on the same day that it passed the National Defense Authorization Act without the repeal of Section 230 requested by President Donald Trump.
Facebook said that the account posting the ads had been shut down in error, and was restored.
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is the law that gives tech companies legal immunity from lawsuits related to defamatory content posted by users, as well as immunity from lawsuits related to censoring user content.
In other words, Section 230 allows platforms like Wikipedia to smear you as a racist while allowing platforms like Facebook and Twitter to censor you if you object too strenuously.
As the Senate Republicans have apparently just found out, it also allows big tech companies to meddle in elections while suffering little in the way of legal consequences.
“Facebook has shut down the ad account for the Georgia Battleground Fund, a joint fundraising committee for NRSC, @Perduesenate, and @kloeffler. This is unacceptable with only 4 days to Election Day,” said the account of the National Republican Senatorial Committee on Twitter.
Big Tech is at it again.
Facebook has shut down the ad account for the Georgia Battleground Fund, a joint fundraising committee for NRSC, @Perduesenate, and @kloeffler.
This is unacceptable with only 4 days to Election Day.
Go to https://t.co/E3Y3IDuuxn to help us fight back. pic.twitter.com/katrpxRaPV
— The Senate Majority (@NRSC) January 1, 2021
This is the second in a matter of days that Facebook has intervened in the Georgia runoff. On Monday, Breitbart News reported that Facebook censored ads drawing attention to Democrat candidate Raphael Warnock’s praise of the radical hate-preacher Jeremiah Wright.
On Twitter, President Trump criticized Republican senators for failing to deal with Section 230.
“Our Republican Senate just missed the opportunity to get rid of Section 230, which gives unlimited power to Big Tech companies. Pathetic!!! Now they want to give people ravaged by the China Virus $600, rather than the $2000 which they so desperately need. Not fair, or smart!”
Our Republican Senate just missed the opportunity to get rid of Section 230, which gives unlimited power to Big Tech companies. Pathetic!!! Now they want to give people ravaged by the China Virus $600, rather than the $2000 which they so desperately need. Not fair, or smart!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2021
Senators Loeffler and Perdue did not vote to override Trump’s veto of the NDAA — but most of their Republican colleagues did.
Big Tech is ALL IN for the radical left.
It’s shameful and it must end.
REPEAL SECTION 230! https://t.co/O3nzv4HMwi
— Kelly Loeffler (@KLoeffler) January 1, 2021
Loeffler, who has introduced a bill to reform Section 230, is now supporting President Trump’s push to repeal the amendment in its entirety.
“Repeal section 230!” said the senator on Twitter.
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. His new book, #DELETED: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal The Election, based on interviews with Big Tech insiders, exposes how Silicon Valley companies used their vast control over online information to meddle in the 2020 presidential election.
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