Today, the CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are testifying before the U.S. House Antitrust Subcommittee. In response to the hearing, Jon Schweppe, director of policy and government affairs at American Principles Project, and co-author of “Protecting Free Speech and Defending Kids,” a blueprint to rewrite Section 230, released the following statement:

A handful of enormous corporations now have total control over the free flow of information online. This would be less of a problem if they were actively promoting American ideals like free speech and free expression. Unfortunately, these companies have taken a page from the radical Left and from Communist China and are actively censoring and shutting down opinions and ideas they don’t like. Every major platform from Twitter to TikTok has engaged in blatant censorship. It’s only getting worse: Google, specifically, is under fire this week for “completely purging” Breitbart from search results. Obviously this Orwellian behavior is doing great harm to our democracy.

We urge these companies to change course and strive to promote American ideals. If they will not, then Congress must act to protect the right of the American people to freely speak and be heard.

Earlier this month, American Principles Project and SPRY Strategies polled voters from ten battleground states about their views on Big Tech censorship:

“Should Big Tech companies such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter be allowed to censor speech on their platforms if that speech would otherwise be constitutionally protected in the public square?”

• Arizona: 56% said “NO”
• Georgia: 63% said “NO”
• Iowa: 58% said “NO”
• Kentucky: 64% said “NO”
• Michigan: 61% said “NO”
• Montana: 61% said “NO”
• North Carolina: 61% said “NO”
• Pennsylvania: 60% said “NO”
• Texas: 57% said “NO”
• Wisconsin: 59% said “NO”

To schedule an interview with an APP policy expert, contact Paul Dupont at pdupont@americanprinciplesproject.org.