Legislation has been filed that would allow you to take social media companies to court if they ban or restrict your account in a biased manner.
Alexandria Representative Lance Harris, the bill’s author, said he’s had tons of constituents voice concerns to him that social media companies are discriminating against them based on their ideology.
“This bill would ensure that standards were applied neutrally across the spectrum of politics, ideology, race, gender, or religious beliefs,” said Harris.
Under the bill should you feel your social media account was unfairly targeted you could take the company to court and potentially win 50,000 dollars in damages per violation.
“It would be simple to show a problematic account or tweet that was not deleted, they could have that and say look what is the difference between this account and mine,” said Harris. The legislation would also allow you to recoup court costs, fees, and attorney’s fees.
Opponents of the legislation say social media companies have a right to dictate what content their platforms host, but Harris said there’s already precedent for this type of regulation.
“Let’s just take for instance buying a cold drink at the store. You can’t discriminate against someone because of their race or religion or gender and not sell them a drink because of that,” said Harris.
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