David Zurawik, journalist and assistant professor of communications and media studies at Goucher College, appeared on a panel Sunday on CNN that spoke about Elon Musk purchasing Twitter. During the discussion, Zurawik asserted that more regulations are needed now that billionaires have started taking over social media platforms.
“There’s a bigger problem here about how we’re going to control the channels of communications in this country,” Zurawik said.
Musk stated his purpose for buying Twitter was to make it a platform where free speech is prioritized.
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk said in a statement announcing his purchase.
Zurawik suggested that the U.S. must follow in the footsteps of the European Union (EU), which recently passed the Digital Services Act (DSA). The act ends an era of tech companies setting their own policies about what content is allowed to stay up or be taken down from their platforms.
The legislation would force Facebook, YouTube, and other social media services to combat “misinformation,” disclose how their services promote “divisive content,” and stop targeting online ads toward people based on ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation.
The law would force companies to monitor their platforms more aggressively for “illegal material” or risk being fined billions of dollars. Tech companies would be compelled by the act to implement new policies and procedures to remove flagged hate speech, terrorist propaganda, and any other content deemed illegal by countries within the European Union.
Jessica Stegrud wrote about her concerns over DSA in Brussels Report.
“Tech companies already naturally suppress content and suspend user accounts, and now they will do so more, as a result of heavy and swift fines provided for by the DSA,” she wrote. “Arbitrary legislative categories like ‘harmful’ or ‘undesired’ will open all floodgates, as history teaches us.”
A final vote must still be taken on the legislation, but it is expected to pass, as policymakers in the European Commission and European Parliament negotiated the act’s language. It is anticipated to take effect next year.
During the segment on CNN, Zurawik passionately said Congress needs to pass similar regulations to those in Europe but claimed there are no people in Congress “who can make regulations.”
“I think we can look to the Western countries in Europe for how they are trying to limit it. But you need controls on this,” Zurawik continued. “You need regulation. You cannot let these guys control discourse in this country, or we are headed to hell.”
“We are there,” he added, claiming that “Trump opened the gates of hell, and now they’re chasing us down.”
Zurawik’s call for government regulations echoes a talking point that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raised when European legislators were negotiating over the Digital Services Act.
“For too long, tech platforms have amplified disinformation and extremism with no accountability. The EU is poised to do something about it,” Clinton wrote on Twitter. “I urge our transatlantic allies to push the Digital Services Act across the finish line and bolster global democracy before it’s too late.”
For too long, tech platforms have amplified disinformation and extremism with no accountability. The EU is poised to do something about it.
I urge our transatlantic allies to push the Digital Services Act across the finish line and bolster global democracy before it's too late.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) April 21, 2022
Zurawik’s comments come days after the Department of Homeland Security announced its new “Disinformation Governance Board.” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the board will work to determine an approach that will address “disinformation” but “that does not infringe on free speech, does not infringe on civil liberties.”
However, the unveiling of the board led to waves of criticism. Former U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) compared the board to the “Ministry of Truth” from George Orwell’s novel 1984.
Oversight Committee Ranking Member Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky) wrote a letter Friday to Mayorkas. He noted that oversight of the new board is needed and called it part of “continued efforts within the Biden Administration to suppress free speech and discredit legitimate criticism as misinformation.”
All nineteen Republicans on the House Oversight committee signed the letter.