In an interview with CNN, of all places, Senator Rand Paul warned that there is a concerted effort by big tech, in particular Facebook, to censor conservative viewpoints, and it will lead to their downfall.
“I think if it gets so bad that they don’t allow conservative viewpoints on Facebook, I think you will get to a point where people will leave in droves,” Paul told CNN Thursday.
“So Facebook, if they want to keep making money, are going to have to convince conservatives that they’re not the enemy.” Paul urged.
Paul noted that while it is not in the nature of conservatives to push for regulation of private companies, big tech has justifiably become an exception to that rule.
“It’s a privately owned company,” Paul said, adding “Most times, conservatives, we don’t want to over-regulate private businesses.
“But they do have sort of a monopoly on this sort of social exchange in speech,” he added.
“[W]hat I’ve been saying for a while is that we need to look at the barriers to entry that government might be creating,” Paul continued.
“Not the government starting other companies but the government getting out … to allow competition with Facebook.” the Senator added.
Paul’s comments come in the wake of revelations that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ordered the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, Sen. Mark Warner, to back off of investigating Facebook with regarding to Russian interference in US elections.
A Senate source further commented that Schumer is concerned that Facebook may “bow to pressure from the right wing, who opposed Facebook’s purging of fake accounts and bots.”
Schumer reportedly told Warner that he should cooperate with Facebook rather than scrutinize its activity.
NYT says Chuck Schumer directly interceded on Facebook’s behalf to get Mark Warner to soften his critiques of the company.
Oh — and Schumer’s campaign received more $ from Facebook in 2016 than anyone else in Congress. And his daughter works there. https://t.co/5szZLWLRsX pic.twitter.com/sCLnSR5GpI
— Zack Stanton (@zackstanton) 14 November 2018
So Sen. Chuck Schumer pushed to *kill* congressional scrutiny of Facebook.
He also just happens to have gotten more $$ from Facebook employees in 2016 than *anyone else in Congress.*https://t.co/qiuM2H7l60
A good reminder that the swamp does exist — and it's bipartisan. pic.twitter.com/KmBAlf3Kvx
— Eric Umansky (@ericuman) November 15, 2018
@ChuckGrassley @RandPaul @senatemajldr when a Democrat like Schumer turns in the political machine to slow down the behemoth monopolistic Facebook and receives substantial donations; ethics committee needs addressing. Read “ Life after Google “ on lack security blatant data sales
— Frank (@lombardfm) November 16, 2018
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