Free Speech Act

THE NEED FOR THE STATUTE

Large tech companies censor disfavored opinion and information--often at the behest of the federal government. This statute protects against both the private and the government censorship by barring the companies from viewpoint discrimination.

The model statute is an updated version of Section 7 of the Texas Free Speech Act, which was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. (See NetChoice v. Paxton below.)

THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE STATUTE

Although the First Amendment speech protects speech, private communications carriers have long been subject to common-carrier antidiscrimination duties. These duties, which bar carriers from discriminating on the basis of viewpoint, have never been held unconstitutional. They are valuable in protecting Americans from both private discrimination and government pressures for censorship. (For details, see the One Page Summary below.)

Without statutes such as this one, government assumes it can evade the First Amendment by privatizing its suppression of speech. Overt government coercion would be checked by the courts. But with more subtle threats against communication carriers, government has been able to escape judicial sanction.

The Constitution does not permit government to use private companies to do its dirty work. But while the evidence of government involvement remains partly hidden and while courts fail to clarify that the Constitution bars privatized evasions of the First Amendment, laws such as this model statute are essential to protect the freedom of speech .

A streamlined version of the model act is included below for state legislatures that prefer relatively compact bills.

1. The Free Speech Statute in a Word document

2. The Free Speech Statute in a PDF document

3. One Page Summary of Free Speech Statute

4. Drafting Notes for Legislative Services

5. NetChoice v. Paxton

Free Speech Act

A MODEL CIVIL RIGHTS STATUTE

THE NEED FOR THE STATUTE

THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE STATUTE

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