The FEC Democrat wants people held libel for passing on “disinformation.”
FEC Democrat, Ann Ravel, is simply proposing exactly what the lie about Russia “hacking” the election was intended to bring about—the practical abolition of the First Amendment by the complete regulation of political speech. Claiming that Russia destroyed our election system with $150,000 worth of Facebook ads could have no other outcome.
The Washington Examiner reports, “Drudge, Facebook, NYT readers could face libel suits for sharing ‘fake news’”
Political content on the internet, paid or not, should face substantial federal regulation to eliminate undefined “disinformation,” and users of platforms and news feeds, from Facebook, to Twitter, to the Drudge Report and even New York Times, could be punished for sharing “fake news” from those sites, the former Democratic chair of the FEC is urging.
In a broad proposal that adds threatening libel suits to regulatory plans already pushed by Democrats on the Federal Election Commission, ex-chair Ann Ravel believes that there is support for expanded regulation in the wake of reports foreign governments spent $100,000 on 2016 political ads on Facebook.
She would include “fake news,” not just paid ads, to be regulated, though it’s never defined other than the Democrat’s description of “disinformation.” And anybody who shares or retweets it could face a libel suit.
She would also use regulation to “improve voter competence,” according to the new proposal titled Fool Me Once: The Case for Government Regulation of ‘Fake News.’
[…]The proposal immediately came under fire from from the Republican FEC commissioner who for years has been warning of the left’s effort to regulate political talk they don’t like, especially on conservative newsfeeds like Drudge.
Lee Goodman told Secrets, “Ann’s proposal is full blown regulation of all political content, even discussion of issues, posted at any time, for free or for a fee, on any online platform, from Facebook to the NewYorkTimes.com.”
https://eaglerising.com/48023/fec-democrat-proposes-killing-drudge-and-political-speech/