MINISTRY OF TRUTH: Elizabeth Warren Wants to Criminalize Online Speech Under the Banner of “Disinformation”

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Jan 29, 2020

2020 Democrat hopeful Elizabeth Warren released a plan on Wednesday, January 29, 2020 to fight “disinformation” and hold tech companies liable for their actions.

She cited the 2016 election, when disinformation campaigns allegedly took place on social media, as the main reason behind revealing this plan.  “Disinformation and online foreign interference erode our democracy, and Donald Trump has invited both,” Warren tweeted on Wednesday. “Anyone who seeks to challenge and defeat Donald Trump in the 2020 election must be fully prepared to take this on – and I’ve got a plan to do it.”

 

Warren’s proposal on fighting disinformation consists of holding big tech companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google responsible for disseminating misinformation with the aim of suppressing voter turnout.

“I will push for new laws that impose tough civil and criminal penalties for knowingly disseminating this kind of information, which has the explicit purpose of undermining the basic right to vote,” Warren declared in her release.

Warren, who has advocated for breaking up big tech companies like Amazon and Facebook, declared that she wants to make “big structural changes to the tech sector to promote more competition.” It’s part of a larger plan to stop disinformation, compelling tech companies and the government to cooperate in solving the problem.

Other candidates such as Senators Amy Klobuchar and Bernie Sanders have demonstrated their skepticism of large technology companies. Sanders has routinely criticized Amazon, saying it should raise wages and benefits for workers.

Warren has been slipping in recent polls as the Iowa caucuses approaches next week. She’s currently in third place in national polls and fourth place in Iowa.

Warren also singled out the companies’ emphasis on profit as a contributing factor to the misinformation spread throughout the 2016 election, such as false ads that increased polarization and could have led to voter suppression among minority groups such as black voters.

If elected, Warren vowed to reinstate the position of cybersecurity coordinator at the National Security Council, a position that is needed to protest the U.S. Furthermore, she promised to open up data for research so that academics and organizations can educate the public on what constitutes disinformation.

“The stakes of this election are too high — we need to fight the spread of false information that disempowers voters and undermines democracy,” Warren stated. “I’ll do my part — and I’m calling on my fellow candidates and big tech companies to do their part too.”

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