Project 2025 argues for scrapping the FCC’s current approach to Section 230, which shields social media providers from legal liability related to user content. It also allows them to remove objectionable materials (in good faith). For example, social media companies currently have the legal right to censor violence, inappropriate imagery, copyright violations, hate speech, and misinformation.
Project 2025 wants to ensure that “antidiscrimination provisions” are applied to social media, especially with respect to “core political viewpoints.” They reference a Texas court case (Netchoice, LLC v. Paxton) which held that, since social media platforms are “common carriers,” they must provide equal access to everyone, essentially turning social media into a public square instead of a private company.
This policy will make it very difficult to find truthful information online, especially when combined with their other policies forbidding Dept. of Homeland Security and the FBI from combatting misinformation. Since conservative circles tend to be exposed to more unreliable news, it is likely that this policy will exacerbate the problem and make political discourse (and solutions) even more difficult.
