Reps. Torres & Quigley to Chairman Pai: Keep FCC Independent
Washington, DC – Congresswoman Norma J. Torres (CA-35), a member of the House Appropriations Committee's Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) subcommittee with oversight over the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and FSGG Chairman, Congressman Mike Quigley (IL-05), this week sent a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai expressing strong objection to the FCC's recent announcement that it will move forward with rulemaking to "clarify" the meaning of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
Under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, online platforms are shielded from lawsuits over user-generated content. This has allowed U.S. tech companies to develop innovative platforms and technologies to benefit consumers around the world.
In a clear act of political retribution for Twitter labeling two of his tweets as "potentially misleading," President Trump signed E.O. 13925 on May 28, asking the FCC to modify Section 230 to intimidate social media companies, which would lead to an increase of false information online.
Similarly, on October 14, President Trump tweeted, "REPEAL SECTION 230!!!" in response to Twitter's removal and Facebook's reduced distribution of a New York Post story discussing hacked materials of Hunter Biden.
One day later on October 15, the FCC announced it would pursue rulemaking to "clarify" Section 230.
The letter reads, in part:
President Trump has regularly trafficked in baseless conspiracy theories and outright falsehoods. When social media companies took reasonable steps to curb the spread of such misinformation, he leveraged the full might of the Federal government to intimidate those companies and settle his personal grievances. The FCC's current actions are the direct result of such petty and unpresidential vendettas.
The lawmakers released the following statements:
"The FCC's decision to act as an accomplice to President Trump in his petty vendettas is an abuse of power, a betrayal of trust, and a complete failure of its mandate to act as an independent agency," Rep. Torres said. "Chairman Pai's caving to pressure in turn puts pressure on social media companies to permit right-wing conspiracy theories and other disinformation on their sites, just weeks before the election, or face retribution from the federal government. It is shameful to see such blatant overreach, and I urge Chairman Pai to reconsider immediately."
"The only thing consistent about the Republican-controlled FCC's approach to internet regulation has been their commitment to enabling President Trump's irresponsible online behavior. The FCC has spent the past four years ignoring their responsibility for regulatory decisions that protect Americans, but on the eve of an election, Chairman Pai has decided to intervene only to contradict the First Amendment for President Trump's benefit," Rep. Quigley said. "As Chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over FCC, I must call out this ridiculous behavior for what it is- a desperate and inappropriate attempt to weigh in on the election to help Donald Trump."
Rep. Torres passed a provision in H.R. 7617, the Fiscal Year 2021 Appropriations Minibus, to prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to implement E.O 13925.
Full text of the letter is available here.
###