Social Media Censorship of Political Speech

Abstract

Censorship online presents an emerging problem in today’s politics. Social media giants, moderating content, make editorial decisions by removing content they with which they disagree. Despite many politicians’ distaste for the practice, social media companies are free to do so as private entities not beholden to the First Amendment. Current law does not offer detractors an option for recourse. 47 U.S.C. §230 of the Communications Decency Act, however, provides a grant upon which the federal government can and should place conditions. Conditions may be crafted to disincentivize censorship while not infringing on the First Amendment rights of private companies. This change is necessary due to the volume of public discourse on these private platforms.