Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that if social media companies fail to moderate and monitor speech on their platforms, “we lose total control.”
Clinton made the disturbing comments on Saturday during an interview on CNN with host Michael Smerconish, noting that while steps have been taken to regulate social media at a state level, she would like to see more moderation of speech at a federal level.
“We can look at the state of California, the state of New York, I think some other states have also taken action. But we need national action, and sadly, our Congress has been dysfunctional when it comes to addressing these threats to our children,” Clinton said.
“We should be, in my view, repealing something called Section 230, which gave, you know, platforms on the internet immunity because they were thought to be just pass-throughs, that they shouldn’t be judged for the content that is posted,” she said.
“But we now know that that was an overly simple view, that if the platforms, whether it’s Facebook or Twitter/X or Instagram or TikTok, whatever they are, if they don’t moderate and monitor the content, we lose total control.
“And it’s not just the social and psychological affects, it’s real life,” she added.
Clinton’s comments follow similar statements made by John Kerry, who recently lamented that free speech is a “major block” to controlling what the government deems “misinformation.”
Speaking at the World Economic Forum on Monday, Kerry suggested that the First Amendment itself stands in the way of their agenda.
“Our First Amendment stands as a major block to be able to just, you know, hammer [disinformation] out of existence,” Kerry said.
As has often been said, the first step toward tyranny is the suppression of dissenting voices. This suppression is rarely presented as such; instead, it is disguised as the regulation of “wrong-speak,” misinformation, and the fight against lies. The war on free speech is usually waged under the guise of combatting “misinformation” and for the good of the public, especially the children.
However, the right to speak freely and openly, without fear of repercussions, is fundamental to human dignity and essential for a just society. If people cannot express themselves freely, they cannot challenge injustice, counter propaganda, or hold those in power accountable.
If we allow government officials to impose their narrative by regulating speech, we risk sacrificing our fundamental freedoms. The fight for “Free Speech” is a fight for liberty itself, and it’s crucial that the Western world remain vigilant against these encroachments on free expression, especially the freedom to say things the government doesn’t like.
