Study Claims Sanders, Warren Best In Campaign On Internet Freedom

A new study by the Washington D.C.-based nonprofit Free Press Action names Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren as the two best candidates in the 2020 presidential race when it comes to supporting internet freedom.  The finding comes despite the fact that both Sanders and Warren voted in favor of FOSTA/SESTA in 2018. The supposed anti-sex trafficking law rolls back the protections to online expression included in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which is generally considered the foundation of internet freedom. Also, earlier this week, Warren proposed what the tech news site Motherboard called a “worrying” proposal to combat online disinformation.  “The reason why a lot of the internet can legally function is due to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act,” Motherboard reporter Gita Jackson explained. Section 230 prevents online publishers from being held liable for content posted by third parties.  For example, if a Facebook user posts a copyrighted image on the social media site, only that user can be sued for violating the copyright. Facebook cannot. But just as FOSTA/SESTA poked holes in Section 230, Warren’s new plan to fight “disinformation” appears certain to create further exceptions to the law holding Facebook, Google, and other big tech companies criminally “accountable” for “the spread of false information that disempowers voters and undermines democracy.” The Free Press Action study, however, appears to have simply ignored attacks on Section 230 as factors in its evaluation of the 2020 candidates. Instead, the study rated the candidates in six categories: net neutrality, affordability, surveillance and privacy, media ownership & mergers, reliable networks, and journalism.  Sanders and Warren, according to the study, were the only two candidates who received the highest ratings in all six categories. Donald Trump was the only candidate from either party who received the lowest rating across the board. The only other Republican candidate included in the study, former Massachusetts Governor William Weld, received the lowest rating in the “media ownership” and “surveillance” categories, as well a questionable rating on net neutrality and affordability. Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden, the former U.S. vice president, also received the lowest rating in the “surveillance” category, and a questionable rating on net neutrality, but received the top rating in the other four categories.  Photo By Edward Kimmel / Gage Skidmore Wikimedia Commons