Lindsey Graham is 'more determined than ever' to strip tech companies of legal protections after Twitter bans Trump
"The Ayatollah can tweet, but Trump can't."
January 09, 2021
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said that he was "more determined than ever" to strip tech and social media companies of legal protections under Section 230 after the president was banned permanently from his Twitter account.
Twitter announced on Friday that they had banned President Donald Trump from his account over concerns that his tweets were inciting violence. Supporters of the president accused the popular social media platform of political bias.
Graham took to his Twitter account to decry the action and call for Section 230 to be rescinded. The law protects some tech companies from legal repercussions over speech posted to their platforms by third parties.
"Twitter may ban me for this but I willingly accept that fate: Your decision to permanently ban President Trump is a serious mistake. The Ayatollah can tweet, but Trump can't. Says a lot about the people who run Twitter," tweeted Graham.
"I'm more determined than ever to strip Section 230 protections from Big Tech (Twitter) that let them be immune from lawsuits." continued Graham in a second tweet.
"Big Tech are the only companies in America that virtually have absolute immunity from being sued for their actions, and it's only because Congress gave them that protection," he added.
"It is now time for Congress to repeal Section 230 and put Big Tech on the same legal footing as every other company in America. Legal accountability," Graham concluded.
The president on Friday attempted to post a statement to Twitter using other government accounts, but the social media company took quick action to delete the messages and restrict the accounts.
Despite Twitter deleting the tweets, supporters of the president circulated his statement widely on the platform.
"Twitter has gone further and further in banning free speech, and tonight, Twitter employees have coordinated with the Democrats and the Radical Left in removing my account from their platform, to silence me," said the president, in part.
""Twitter may be a private company, but without the government's gift of Section 230 they would not exist for long.I predicted this would happen. We have been negotiating with various other sites, and will have a big announcement soon, while we also look at the possibilities of building out our own platform in their future," the president added.
"We will not be SILENCED!" he said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also said on Friday that if the president didn't resign that Democrats in the House would move to impeach him for inciting an insurrection on Monday.