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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 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
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| 5 | WHEREAS, These digital platforms have allowed any American | ||||||
| 6 | with an internet connection to express his or her beliefs | ||||||
| 7 | freely; and
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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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