Rep. Beau LaFave of Iron Mountain this week testified on his bill to help ensure election integrity by establishing a level-playing field between political candidates on social media.
House Bill 5597, dubbed the ‘JACK-Act’ (Justice Abolishing Corporate Kneecapping), prohibits social media platforms from de-platforming, throttling and/or shadow-banning a citizen running for office. Should the social media provider violate this act, the victim will be entitled to $10,000 per day, plus reasonable attorney fees.
“Like it or not, social media has become the new town square. It is where public debates occur. It is where our citizens are discussing public policies – debating with one another – and certainly debating their representatives,” LaFave said.
Big-tech companies are removing social media posts and accounts based on their own arbitrary guidelines.
“These big-tech platforms are stifling debate in our democratic republic,” LaFave said. “We cannot have a functioning republic where debate is ended by people sitting in Silicon Valley. These are foreign entities interfering with our elections. I will stop it.”
LaFave believes voters have the right to hear statements from all viewpoints in order to make informed decisions when voting, and that social media giants put their thumb on the scale when they restrict speech.
LaFave stated that, while this legislation protects political candidates only, he would support expanding the protections to include all Michigan residents.
House Bill 5597 remains in the House Committee on Communications and Technology for further consideration.
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