Full Text of HR0637 102nd General Assembly
HR0637 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, In our modern world, much of our social and | 3 | | political discourse has moved to digital platforms, such as | 4 | | YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, These digital platforms have allowed any American | 6 | | with an internet connection to express his or her beliefs | 7 | | freely; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Because these digital platforms have become so | 9 | | popular, they are now the primary location in which discourse | 10 | | is conducted, with Facebook having 2.9 billion worldwide | 11 | | users, YouTube having 2.3 billion, and Instagram having 1.3 | 12 | | billion; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, This prevalence allows these platforms to | 14 | | exercise far more control over Americans' lives than other | 15 | | businesses; in fact, Justice Clarence Thomas recently | 16 | | suggested that "There is a fair argument that some digital | 17 | | platforms are sufficiently akin to common carriers or places | 18 | | of accommodation to be regulated in this manner."; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, As part of this online discourse, some social | 20 | | media websites offer "like" and "dislike" buttons, in which | 21 | | social media users can register their support or disagreement |
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| 1 | | with what has been posted; the amount of "likes" and | 2 | | "dislikes" on some sites is then displayed to other users; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, On November 10, 2021, the social media and video | 4 | | sharing website YouTube made the decision to no longer make | 5 | | "dislike" totals visible to the public; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, YouTube claimed that removal of the dislike | 7 | | totals would prevent online harassment; however, the changes | 8 | | appears to be politically motivated after videos on the White | 9 | | House's official YouTube channel began to receive five times | 10 | | as many dislikes as likes on some videos; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, YouTube's efforts to inhibit the speech of | 12 | | Americans to protect one political view point is harmful to | 13 | | the fabric of our nation; therefore, be it
| 14 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 15 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 16 | | we urge President Joseph Biden and the United States Congress | 17 | | to enact measures to discourage further restraints on speech | 18 | | by tech companies, such as amendments to Section 230 of the | 19 | | Communications Decency Act of 1996, regulation of digital | 20 | | platforms as common carriers, or legislative limits on tech | 21 | | companies' ability to restrict free speech activity on their | 22 | | platforms; and be it further
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 2 | | delivered to President Joseph Biden, U.S. Senate Majority | 3 | | Leader Chuck Schumer, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch | 4 | | McConnell, U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, U.S. House | 5 | | of Representatives Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and all | 6 | | members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation.
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