Earlier this week, the Oklahoma State Senate – a governing body primarily composed of pandering ignoramuses – advanced Senate Bill 383 by a 34 - 12 margin.
Dubbed the "Oklahoma Senators Don't Understand How Censorship or Free Speech Works Act," it would give social media users in Oklahoma the power to sue any social media company that they think is censoring their political or religious speech, and then, apparently, have the lawsuit tossed out in the courts because it would violate all sorts of federal laws and statutes.
The bill was written by Norman-area State Senator Rob Standridge – a right-wing nut job who just last fall tried to organize a digital militia to combat "left-wing propaganda."
Here's video of him discussing the bill:
Yeah, this is stupid, nonsensical legislation for a variety of reasons.
First of all, social media companies use complex algorithms to determine what content their users see, like and share, so whether it's a Trump meme, breakfast selfie or video of a gamer in his parent's bedroom telling you Bitcoin's going to rise to $200,000 by 2025, companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter already, in a roundabout way, censor their content.
But, they don't just delete shit because it expresses a conservative or religious view. Now, they may remove a post if it's a blatant lie intended to deceive people, spreads obvious misinformation, or encourages open rebellion – you know, the type of content that's more commonly shared by people associated with far-right movements – but as far as some dude or robot deleting conservative speech just because it's conservative or expresses a conservative opinion, that doesn't happen.
And even if it did, guess what? Social media companies, whether they're public or privately-held corporations, have the right to delete whatever they want. You don't own their platform. They do. You'll always have the right in this country to say and speak whatever you want, no matter how stupid or crazy it may sound, but that doesn't mean these corporations have to give you a platform to say it to a bunch of people.
Anyway, I know these are just basic logical arguments to an illogical bill passed by imbeciles who are pandering to other imbeciles, but they're important things to point out. We'll continue to follow it and let you know where it goes.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We'll keep you advised.
