Malliotakis Op-Ed: Big Tech Acts Like Big Brother

The notice came in white text on a dark screen: “This video has been removed for violating YouTube’s Community Guidelines.” The company last week blocked a 45-minute video of my news conference announcing a lawsuit challenging Mayor Bill de Blasio’s “vaccine passport” as an invasion of New Yorkers’ privacy and an unreasonable mandate on small businesses.

I believe the vaccine is safe, effective and the best means of combating the Covid pandemic. But Mr. de Blasio’s mandate is a clear government overreach. Still YouTube removed the video, citing an alleged violation, never explained, of its “medical misinformation policy.” The video was censored for two days. After I appealed YouTube’s decision twice, the video reappeared and I was notified that after “taking another look,” YouTube had changed its mind.

Behind the platforms, the people deciding what is “misinformation” and a violation of “community guidelines” are doing so in a subjective manner. Social-media giants suspended the U.S. president while continuing to provide a megaphone to tyrants like Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Venezuela’s Nicolas Máduro of Venezuela and Cuba’s Miguel Díaz-Canel.

Big Tech seems focused on acting as an extension of big government, quashing content from those who oppose their liberal ideology. President Biden has criticized social-media platforms, notably Facebook, for allowing the spread of “misinformation.” Press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration is “in regular touch with social media platforms” to flag “problematic” posts.

Twitter suspended the Conservative Party of New York State’s account for six weeks leading up to November’s election. Facebook filtered videos documenting the human-rights abuses by Cuba’s Communist regime. These actions aren’t in the public interest.

In 2021 social media is how the world communicates, and the enforcement of arbitrary content guidelines imperil free speech. As censorship increases, we are heading down the path that led to the silencing of political dissent in the Soviet Union, China, Cuba and Venezuela.

Social media was premised on the free and open exchange of ideas. It has reconnected old friends, helped people find lost loved ones, and given public figures and businesses a platform to market themselves and their products. But as Big Tech companies have grown, so has their appetite to censor. It’s time for Congress to rein them in and reform Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to require transparency for content-enforcement decisions and disclosure of appeals processes—and to remove liability protections for companies who censor constitutionally protected speech.

Lawmakers must end this attack on our constitutional freedom to debate issues and present opposing views. If America is to remain the leader of the free world, our people need to be free.

Ms. Malliotakis, a Republican, represents New York’s 11th Congressional District.