Washington – The Computer & Communications Industry Association submitted comments objecting to a Tennessee social media bill that raises Constitutional concerns and tries to reclassify the role of online services as that of broadband providers that carry internet traffic. CCIA said that companies should not be forced to display content that violates their terms of service and that HB 682 violates First Amendment protections from government intrusion on speech from individuals or private businesses.
CCIA has advocated for information access and various aspects of telecommunications law for more than three decades.
The following can be attributed to CCIA State Policy Director Khara Boender:
“Bills like this that would force companies to carry unwanted content are both unconstitutional and dangerous. At a time when digital services are trying to protect users from harmful content, state governments should not be forcing them to display speech that may violate their terms of service. The private right of action provision in the bill encourages frivolous lawsuits from a wide range of third parties, and that itself can have a chilling effect on free speech, something the bill purports to be trying to address.
“There also seems to be a misunderstanding of the role of internet services. They allow user generated content, but they do not carry all internet traffic as so-called ‘common carriers’ do. That would be the actual broadband provider a customer uses to access the internet. Those carriers are more like a traditional phone company that must offer service to everyone as part of a government regulation in exchange for using government spectrum.”