The National Legal and Policy Center (NPLC), a non-profit that is also a shareholder in Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta, says it is sponsoring proposals asking these corporations to look into the way free speech is suppressed on their platforms.
According to an announcement from NPLC, what prompted this action are the Twitter Files revelations into the depth and breadth of the Big Tech/government collusion.
The organization wants more transparency around the subject of removal of content at the behest of the US government and its agencies. The proposals will be sponsored as the three corporations hold their annual meetings between May 24 and June 2.
We obtained a copy of the request to Meta for you here.
NLPC’s Corporate Integrity Project Director Paul Chesser explained the move by saying that the Twitter Files showed there was “an epidemic” of unconstitutional government censorship, with Big Tech as willing “enforcers.”
That is why NPLC considers it vital and in the interest of both the shareholders and the country for the likes of Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta, to be transparent about which federal officials are coming up with requests to take down content – requests which Chesser suspects are not only “improper” but also likely illegal.
This NPLC representative, who will be present at the three giants’ annual meetings to present the proposals, also noted that these corporations will be asked to reveal specifically what the government has asked them to censor.
Amazon and Meta will be asked to itemize requests coming from the federal government, while a proposal titled, Risk Audit on Content Censorship, that will be submitted to Alphabet, aims to get the company to assess, in a report, how censorship (via Terms of Service enforcement and other controversial practices) impacts its fiduciary health – i.e., its reputation, finances, and operations.
NLPC also believes, and has put this in the strongly-worded statement included in the proposal to be given to Alphabet, that there is now multi-year evidence that it “discriminates against disfavored speech, interferes in elections, and is undeniably prejudiced.”
One example of this mentioned by NLPC includes evidence from leaked emails that discuss manipulation of public opinion (by Alphabet), which is suspected to be on a scale capable of effectively swaying an election.
