Wednesday, August 5, 2020

O’Rielly’s Re-Nomination Withdrawal Causes Backlash

UPDATE Inside Towers reported yesterday the White House reversed course and withdrew Michael O'Rielly's nomination for another five-year term on the FCC. The action came after a Senate committee approved his reappointment on July 22.

The White House gave no explanation for the change. Speculation Tuesday centered around O’Rielly’s comments last week warning against government intervention into speech on social media. President Donald Trump in May ordered the Commerce Department to petition the FCC to impose new regulations on social media moderation practices. The order directed the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to draw up a proposal to the FCC to limit the liability protections that tech platforms currently enjoy for third-party content on their sites under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

First Amendment advocates have raised doubts that such a move would withstand constitutional scrutiny, but the FCC on Monday opened up the proposal for public comment, according to Deadline. It now will go through a 45-day period for comments. Continue Reading

No comments:

Post a Comment