WASHINGTON, Sept 13 (Reuters) – U.S. Sen. Lindsay Graham, a Republican critic of social media companies like Facebook and Twitter ( TWTR.N ) and Meta ( META.O ), said on Tuesday he wants to create a way to regulate, and possibly license, social media companies.
Graham said he was working on a measure — he did not say what form it would take — with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, and Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican. Graham could not be reached for further comment, and Warren and Hawley did not immediately return a call for comment.
At a hearing to discuss Twitter’s security lapses, Graham said companies were allowed to become powerful internationally with few restrictions on what they could and couldn’t do. He also expressed concern that the Federal Trade Commission appeared to have few tools in their regulatory toolbox to curb them.
Social media platforms are not licensed and “you can’t sue them,” Graham said, noting “if you drive a car you need a license, if you sell real estate you need a license.”
Graham’s plan could include regulations that would place limits on what speech companies can remove, while also requiring them to be tougher on criminal use of networks and foreign interference.
“If someone takes down your content, you have an appeals process,” he said at a congressional hearing on Tuesday.
Graham spoke at a hearing whose main witness is Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, a famous hacker who served as Twitter’s chief security officer until he was fired. Mudge said some Twitter employees were concerned that the Chinese government would be able to collect data on the company’s users. Read more
Big tech companies appear to have few friends in Congress with Republicans angry at what they perceive as companies stifling conservative voices, while Democrats believe foreign interference at Facebook contributed to former President Donald Trump’s 2016 victory.
Reporting by Diane Bartz Editing by Nick Zieminski
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