By CEO ORIANA SANDOVAL, Center for Civic Policy

Executive Director ALISSA BARNES, Progress Now New Mexico

Big Tech reform is needed. From privacy protections to anti-trust measures, the U.S. Senate is absolutely right to take action to protect U.S. consumers.

And, perhaps even more importantly, New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Lujan is absolutely right to insist that the scramble to take on Big Tech doesn’t compromise online safety or our democracy.

The American Innovation and Choice Online Act, S 2992, the leading tech reform bill in the U.S. Senate, includes many needed reforms. But it also includes language that would make it harder for online platforms to regulate or remove hate speech or misinformation. That is unacceptable and must be addressed.

We can—and must—do tech reform right.

Fortunately, Sen. Lujan and several of his colleagues have appropriately sounded the alarm. In a letter to bill sponsor Sen. Amy Klobuchar this summer, Sen. Lujan and his colleagues accurately said that the bill “would supercharge harmful content online and make it more difficult to combat,” and they asked Sen. Klobuchar to make a simple language change in the bill to ensure everyone is safe online.

Unfortunately, the bill’s sponsor has not made the recommended, simple changes and the AICOA still puts online safety at risk.

We need to stand with Sen. Lujan in insisting that these changes are made. Our democracy depends on it.

The Jan. 6 hearings—and the insurrection they are investigating—have shown the threat that damaging online misinformation poses to our democracy. Indeed, many of the GOP actors who contested the results of President Biden’s electoral victory also support this bill because they view this bill as a way to prevent platforms from removing their dangerous content.

Here in New Mexico, our own Secretary of State has been subjected to death threats following online election misinformation, and rampant online conspiracy theories led to planned efforts in Otero County to overturn election results and intimidate voters.

Enough is enough.

New Mexicans know that online misinformation is dangerous and hurts our democracy. We need Sen. Lujan and his colleagues to continue their work to fix this bill so that our values of fairness are reflected in the legislation.

By prohibiting platforms from discriminating between “similarly situated” users online, S.2992 would effectively protect hate speech and dangerous misinformation posted by bad actors like Alex Jones of Infowars or leaders of the hate group the Proud Boys. Here in New Mexico, Cowboys for Trump could end up with an even larger platform and even less accountability.

While the intent of the American Innovation and Choice Online Act is good, we can make it better.

Dangerous misinformation threatens the stability of our democracy and the safety of communities around the country, including here in New Mexico. Stripping platforms of the ability to remove harmful content could have serious repercussions for our democracy.

Sen. Lujan and his colleagues were correct when they wrote: “Although important, competition policy goals should not override the ability of platforms to moderate content in good faith. Congress should continue to encourage, not impede, moderation of harmful content online.” 

We stand with Sen. Lujan and urge all New Mexicans, including Sen. Martin Heinrich, to do the same. Standing up against hate speech and online misinformation requires that we take a stand against the American Innovation and Choice Online Act as currently written.