Can you guess our take on this week's Twitter saga?
Spoiler: our positions haven't changed! Plus, read further for takes on regulatory sandboxes, common carriage, and Texas's unconstitutional social media law.
Friends, this may come as a surprise to you, but Elon Musk has offered to buy Twitter. I know—this is surely the very first time you’re hearing this news! Much to the chagrin of some populist conservatives who’d love nothing more than a “gotcha” moment, we stand by our long-held position: the First Amendment protects Twitter’s right to moderate, or not moderate, “lawful but awful” speech. And without Section 230, it would take the court system so long to vindicate that right to editorial control that the fear of litigation could be used to coerce companies to take down, or not take down, controversial speech. So the populists can keep waiting.
Now that I’ve met this week’s mandated Elon Musk conversation minimum, I can talk about something else: hiking! Around D.C., at least, April is the perfect time to go on a hike, since it’s not too cold but the infamous summer heat and humidity haven’t set in. Peruse this article for some great trail recommendations. In my own experience, Rock Creek Park is great if you’re looking for something easy or manageable with young kids. Parts of the more advanced Billy Goat Trail sections are challenging if (like me) you’re afraid of heights, but I still highly recommend it, especially as a route to hike with friends. And if you’re looking for a longer challenge, try the Little Devils Stairs in Shenandoah National Park!
Social Media Regulation. This week, we delved deeper into FCC Commissioner Carr’s testimony before House Energy & Commerce. As we covered in our letter to the committee last week, Carr’s proposals, which would constitute a common carriage regulatory scheme, strike us as odd in light of his dedicated efforts to prevent common carriage-style regulation for broadband. We highlighted this analysis of why market power doesn’t diminish a company’s First Amendment rights to make editorial judgments, why Section 230 makes the wealth of user-generated content on the Internet possible, and why even common carriers can enforce some rules against misbehavior in a Twitter thread.
Last year, Florida and Texas passed blatantly unconstitutional social media speech regulations. As devotees of the newsletter know well, we have helped lead the charge in getting these laws overturned. We were at it again late last week, when we filed an amicus brief in the Fifth Circuit, urging that court to affirm an order blocking enforcement of Texas’s law, HB20. Our focus, once again, was on the faulty argument that social media services can be treated like common carriers. This time, though, there was a twist: Professor Philip Hamburger filed a brief taking the other side of the common carriage issue. He’s been barnstorming state capitols to convince state legislators to enact common carriage mandates. Even if you’ve read our prior common-carriage briefs, this one is worth checking out for our response to Prof. Hamburger. Brief here; press release here; Twitter thread here. And check out our debunking of his arguments in Lawfare last year.
Innovation. Last Thursday, Andy wrote an op-ed in Techdirt on regulatory sandboxes—a regulatory framework which allows small businesses to sell products and services without complying with the red tape governing that industry. Andy advocates for a regulatory sandbox for technology, arguing that the government should prioritize the creation of new tech companies rather than attempting to dismantle successful incumbent firms. Check out Andy’s profile on Young Voices for more of his work.
On the latest Tech Policy Podcast, Corbin was joined by Alec Stapp, the co-founder of a new think tank, The Institute for Progress. Alec discussed what drives progress, what political and cultural forces obstruct it, and how he hopes to accelerate it through his new organization.
Follow us on Twitter! Berin @BerinSzoka; Ari @AriCohn; Corbin @CorbinKBarthold; Bilal @BilalKSayyed; Andy @AndyJungTech; Jason @JasonKuznicki; me (Rachel) @MillionthRachel.