(USA Features) Rep. Brian Babin said Wednesday he is happy that former President Donald Trump has filed class-action lawsuits against three of the country’s largest social media platforms after they have “dogged” him for years and allegedly silenced conservative voices.
“We’re in the minority because the people that really want to roll back Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act are Republicans,” Babin, a Texas Republican, said Wednesday while appearing on Newsmax‘s “The Chris Salcedo Show.”
”There are a few Democrats that might go along with that, but as long as we’re in the minority, I just don’t think this is going to happen,” he added.
“So I am all in favor. I support President Trump. He’s been dogged by Big Tech and these liberal leftists for his entire tenure in office,” he continued.
“He’s hitting back. He’s got every right to file these lawsuits against Twitter and Facebook and these other YouTube, etc. I’m glad to see him taking these people on,” Babin continued.
Trump announced his lawsuits earlier Wednesday.
“We’re demanding an end to the shadow-banning, a stop to the silencing, and a stop to the blacklisting, banishing, and canceling that you know so well,” Trump said during a press conference at his golf resort in Bedminster, N.J.
“We will prove that this censorship is unlawful, it’s unconstitutional, and it’s completely un-American,” he added.
Conservatives have long complained that big tech platforms have censored their content and voices, but at the same time, the platforms have argued that most often they are merely enforcing community rules by removing “harmful” content and banning users who violate standards.
Trump himself has been banned permanently from Twitter and is banned from Facebook for at least two more years.
“Trump said if a president of the United States can be silenced, nobody is safe, and everybody can be silenced,” Babin told Newsmax.
“They’re keeping the president from being on these big platforms. You can readily see the Iranians, North Koreans, terrorists, they’re freely spewing their vile rhetoric and propaganda. It is outrageous,” he added.
Backers of the platforms, meanwhile, argue that they are private companies and as such are free to self-regulate and impose content restrictions.