Outsourcing censorship to the government violates First Amendment: FCC Commissioner
Federal officials voicing opposition to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg push for the United States to adopt European-style privacy regulations.
In an op-ed published Saturday in the Washington Post, Zuckerberg called on regulators to play a more active role on setting clearer rules of internet companies. “Whenever you outsource censorship to the government, it's not just a bad idea, it's one that violates the First Amendment,” FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said during an interview on "Cavuto: Coast-to-Coast" Monday.
Regardless of whatever problems may be plaguing Facebook and other tech platforms, Carr said, relying on more government control or censorship is not the best path forward.
"We have a long tradition of free speech in this country dating back to our founding where our framers decided that the American people should decide the relative value and merit of ideas, and not the government.”
Carr said he doesn't foresee the idea of heavy-handed government regulation catching on in the U.S.
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“I see Facebook's call for more regulation mainly as a way of passing the buck for a lot of the criticism that Facebook has been receiving recently and trying to shift the blame and the responsibility onto the government,” he said.
Zuckerberg concluded in his op-ed, “We should have a broader debate about what we want as a society and how regulation can help.”