In a recent Fox News op-ed, NetChoice Vice President and General Counsel Carl Szabo argues that President Joe Biden is seemingly undeterred by federal court rulings that have found his attempts to coerce social media platforms to be a violation of the First Amendment. The article, along with a recent tweet from Szabo, highlights the increasing use of government power to influence online free expression.
Szabo emphasizes the importance of protecting the First Amendment and cautions against granting too much power to the government. He states, "Remember the 'golden rule' and recognize that any power given to this president and administration will be used by a future one, too, and our leadership should stand with the people and protect the First Amendment."
One of the concerns raised by Szabo is the potential regulation of search engines. He mentions Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's testimony in the Justice Department's antitrust trial against Google, where Nadella stated that Microsoft would run its Bing search engine as a "public utility" only if the Biden administration mandated everyone to use Bing by default. Szabo argues that such regulation would give the government the authority to control how people use search engines and manipulate search results, potentially leading to censorship of search results deemed "unwanted."
Szabo also draws parallels between this restricted online environment and the situation in China, where Microsoft complies with government censorship requests on Bing. He warns that such a mandate would give Microsoft a government-protected monopoly on search, limiting choices for users and potentially infringing on free expression in the US.
Szabo criticizes the Biden administration's actions against Elon Musk and his management of the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter). The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigated X for not blocking enough content and a lawsuit was filed against Tesla. Additionally, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly launching criminal actions against Musk himself. Szabo argues that these actions are not about justice or protecting Americans but rather about controlling speech and punishing those who go against progressive orders.
Szabo highlights the efforts of Republicans in Congress to promote bills like the "Protecting Free Speech From Government Interference Act." These bills aim to explicitly prevent federal employees from leveraging their government positions to pressure social media companies into removing content they do not like. Szabo asserts that these efforts should be supported by all Americans.
In a tweet, Szabo expressed his concerns about Biden's alleged attacks on free speech, saying, "Biden continues his march to control speech online...now he's using the courts to force businesses into compliance." He also mentions the Biden FTC, DOJ, and EEOC attacks on Musk for buying Twitter and allowing Trump back on, as well as the Biden DOJ attacking Google search to benefit Microsoft.
Carl Szabo is the Vice President and General Counsel at NetChoice, an organization dedicated to making the internet safe for free enterprise and free expression. He is also an adjunct professor of internet law at the George Mason Antonin Scalia Law School.