Evergreen Reporter

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) says Big Tech needs accountability.

“Big Tech is increasingly becoming a destructive force to our society,” McMorris Rodgers said in a news release. “These principles are central to the foundations of our democracy and the Promise of America. As Big Tech intensifies its political censorship, House Republicans on Energy and Commerce need to be prepared to lead.”

McMorris Rodgers said she has said for many years that the answer to speech that is disagreed with should be more speech, not less.

“Our country was built on great debates and the battle of ideas,” McMorris Rodgers said. “It’s been our past and it must define our future. Yes, the First Amendment protects Big Tech from certain government regulations. However, should these American companies who wield immense power over online speech not strive to uphold such a central American principle?”

McMorris Rodgers said the answer is yes, they should, and the same goes for lawmakers that call to censor speech that doesn’t align with their own.

“Now, free speech is not absolute,” McMorris Rodgers writes. “A recent example is the horrific attack on our Capitol and related activity online. Big Tech is right to bar content calling for violence, but in the wake of that horrific day there is a quiet and purposeful attempt to conflate anything conservatives say or do as condoning such actions as justification for silencing us.”

McMorris Rodgers said Big Tech should not have banned former President Donald Trump.

“If Big Tech can silence a sitting United States president with the support of most of the media and our elite institutions, they can silence anyone else for having unpopular opinions,” McMorris Rodgers writes.

McMorris Rodgers said she hoped Big Tech would do better and would contribute to the country’s standing as a world leader in technological innovation. 

“Unfortunately, Big Tech has broken any sense of trust that they can be fair stewards for speech and the truth,” McMorris Rodgers wrote.