Appearing on NTD’s Capitol Report, Alliance Defending Freedom’s Jeremy Tedesco weighed in on the recent hearing held by the House of Representatives Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.
During the explosive hearing, journalists Matt Taibbi and Michael Schellenberger testified about their findings released over the past several months as the “Twitter Files,” which implicate government entities’ involvement in the censorship of American citizens and groups through the big tech giant.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s coming from the Left or the Right, Republicans or Democrats,” Tedesco said. “We don’t want the government trying to skew debate and put their thumb on the scales of national conversation in this way.”
Just as it’s a violation of constitutionally protected speech for the government to directly censor and silence viewpoints, it’s also illegal to utilize third parties like Twitter to do the same. Wielding the internet as a tool for censorship strikes at the heart of the very principles upon which America was founded.
“Our country is based on the idea of open debate and dialogue and trusting that that process will create a consensus around the right choices and policy solutions for us as the American people to pursue. And when the government tries to manipulate that conversation behind closed doors in secrecy by weaponizing these content standards, that’s a problem.”
Tedesco highlighted that private tech companies like Meta and Twitter need to make real policy changes in order to create platforms where free speech can flourish. Viewpoint Diversity Score provides a roadmap for policies that acknowledge and respect people’s right to free and open debate. Companies can also build trust with the American people by publicly disclosing any request or recommendation made by governments or non-governmental organizations to restrict content, along with the rationale for the request and the company’s response.
Watch the full interview here.