Market Resource: Product or Service Anti-Viewpoint Discrimination Policy

Purpose:

To ensure that the company does not condition/restrict use of a product or service based on the ideology, opinion, or perspective of a person or group.

Policy:

1. Digital Service Providers:
   1. [Insert Name] does not:
      1. discriminate against users,
      2. censor a user,
      3. censor a user’s expression, (or)
      4. interfere with a user’s ability to receive the expression of another person
   2. based on:
      
      1. the viewpoint of the user or another person,
      2. regardless of whether the viewpoint is expressed on the platform or through another medium.
      3. The company will not restrict or punish the expression of different viewpoints on matters of public concern, even when some may find those views offensive, hurtful, misguided, upsetting, discriminatory or otherwise objectionable.*
2.  Non-Digital Service Providers:

1. 1. [Insert Name] does not:
      1. discriminate against [customer’s/seller’s/ creator’s/user’s]
   2. based on:
      
      1. religious beliefs,
      2. (and/or) ideological viewpoints (OR political affiliation).
   3. The company will not restrict or punish the expression of different viewpoints on matters of public concern, even when some may find those views offensive, hurtful, misguided, upsetting, discriminatory or otherwise objectionable.*

Risk:

This policy mitigates the risk of violating an emerging group of state laws such as Texas H.B. 20, which prohibit social media companies from engaging in certain types of content- or viewpoint-based censorship.

Application:
* These model provisions do not bar companies from adopting policies that prohibit, limit, restrict, or deny services based on lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or similarly harmful content or conduct. Those policies, however, should be drafted to (1) avoid unclear and imprecise terms that imperil free speech, (2) avoid viewpoint discriminatory language, and (3) protect all stakeholders from legitimately harmful content and conduct.

 

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