Social Media Common Carrier Bill Moves Forward Despite Two Republicans Voting No

Image Credit: capitol.tn.gov

The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –

The “Common Carrier Bill” that would stop social media censorship of Tennessee elections and citizens took one more step toward becoming law yesterday in the House Business and Utilities Subcommittee. The bill was recommended for passage if amended and referred to the House Commerce Committee on March 22nd. 

The Ayes prevailed in a voice vote with three subcommittee members requesting to be recorded as voting No. Of these three, two were Republicans, Representative Patsy Hazlewood (R-Signal Mountain-District 27) and Representative Kevin Vaughan (R-Collierville-District 95).

*** Click Here to Support Conservative Journalism in Tennessee. We can’t cover stories like this without your support!***

House Bill 2369, sponsored by Representative Dennis Powers (R-Jacksboro-District 36), seeks to designate social media platforms as common carriers and requires the entities to obtain certificates of public convenience and necessity from the Tennessee public utilities commission; prescribes fines against social media platforms that deplatform and shadow ban users based on political ideology, viewpoint, or personal animus, or discrimination based on race, creed, color, religion, sex, age, or national origin.

“We were so glad to get this free speech legislation passed today in the Sub-Committee,” said Dennis Powers. “We still have hurdles in another committee and then on the House floor, but I think the last two days were a win for Conservatives who have had their voices suppressed concerning their political speech and viewpoints.”

James Taylor from the Heartland Institute said, “Legislators in Tennessee and throughout the 50 states should listen to their constituents and protect free speech rights on social media, which is the primary venue for political and cultural expression today. Big Tech is peddling all sorts of lies to try to sabotage legislation, but I suspect they will ultimately fail in their efforts to stifle free speech.”

The Senate version of the bill (SB2161) has been assigned to the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee but it has not yet appeared on their calendar.

Note from The Tennessee Conservative: Many good bills die in subcommittees and committees before they ever make it to the floor for a vote and any one of the subcommittees/committees that hear legislation can stop a bill’s progression to becoming law. If you support this legislation, contact the Republicans on the House Commerce Committee to voice your support.

House Commerce Committee Republican Members

Kevin Vaughan (chair) – rep.kevin.vaughan@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1866

Rush Bricken (Vice-Chair) – rep.rush.bricken@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-7448

Rebecca K. Alexander – rep.rebecca.alexander@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2251

Clark Boyd – rep.clark.boyd@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-7086

Kent Calfee – rep.kent.calfee@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-7658

Jeremy Faison – rep.jeremy.faison@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-6871

Kirk Haston – rep.kirk.haston@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-0750

Patsy Hazlewood-  rep.patsy.hazlewood@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2746

John B. Holsclaw, Jr. – rep.john.holsclaw@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-7450

Curtis Johnson – rep.curtis.johnson@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4341

Susan Lynn – rep.susan.lynn@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-7462

Eddie Mannis – rep.eddie.mannis@captiol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2287

Jerome Moon – rep.jerome.moon@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-5481

Dennis Powers – rep.dennis.powers@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-3335

Mike Sparks – rep.mike.sparks@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-6829

Greg Vital – rep.greg-vital@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-3025

Jason Zachary – rep.jason.zachary@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2264

About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.