Mountain State Times

Two West Virginia House of Delegates members are working on a resolution that will stop social media's censorship of conservative voices.

Delegates Trenton Barnhart (R-Pleasants) and Josh Holstein (R-Boone) are working on the resolution together.

“We believe that free speech represents the bedrock of American democracy, whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, conservative or liberal,” Barnhart said, the Wheeling Intelligencer reported. “We believe ultimately what is going on with these tech companies — Twitter, Facebook, and these different outlets — it’s just unamerican. We believe that all speech should be welcomed and all debate should be welcomed.”

Barnhart said they were aware companies like Twitter are private companies.

"However, they are regulating public communication platforms where people can come and discuss things,” Barnhart said to the news media. “We just feel fundamentally that what we’re seeing on these sites is unacceptable. I’ve heard from constituents in my district and throughout the State of West Virginia that this censorship has got to stop and we have to promote free speech.

Barnhart and Holstein want Congress to amend Section 230 protections. The section gives tech companies protections from being treated as publishers and responsible for the content created by others on their platforms.

“We do recognize some of the valuable provisos and areas of Section 230. We don’t want to get rid of that wholesale,” Barnhart said to the same media outlet. “We recognize the liabilities that are necessary to be able to operate the platforms. However, we want to make sure that regulation doesn’t turn into outright censorship of someone based on a political belief or political affiliation.”

The argument however is that, if section 230 is amended, Twitter and Facebook might increase censorship. At the same time focus on conservative and pro-Trump social media accounts could create precedents that could affect the free speech of people on the political left down the road, Barnhart analysed. He also added that there shouldn't be limitations to one's public expression on a public site. 

Thousands of conservatives have been censored or banned from Twitter and Facebook. Parler has been taken off Google Playstore, Apple and Amazon due to posts that violate terms of service, the platforms claim.