LOS ANGELES — Marissa Streit, PragerU CEO, releases the following statement addressing the Trump administration’s executive order Thursday aimed at reigning in political bias at Big Tech companies:

“Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google — they all do the same thing. They claim to be bastions of free speech and openness, but their actions minimize the exchange of free information, especially information they do not agree with. They’ve repeatedly silenced conservatives who don't support their ideology. Big Brother anyone?

“And when those who’ve been silenced attempt to fight it Big Tech hides behind legal protections enacted in the 1990s, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 has been at the center of PragerU’s legal battle against Google/YouTube for the past few years — especially when it comes to the immunity protections Big Tech companies leverage to protect their politically-biased censoring.

“The internet is drastically different from what it was when the CDA was written 25 years ago, and it’s about time the issue of Big Tech censorship is addressed. President Trump’s executive order crucially calls out Big Tech for its bias and unfair legal protection; let’s hope Congress takes up a long overdue review and reform to the CDA so that it benefits the public and not only the Big Tech giants.  

“President Trump’s executive order also recognizes what is now obvious — Big Tech has fallen in line with Hollywood and higher education in an all-out culture war to dismantle opposing ideas. PragerU has been on the frontlines of this battle for years. We’ve battled with YouTube over its blatant and repeated censorship of our videos. YouTube still restricts over 200 of our videos, including videos on topics like the 10 Commandments. And, just last week Facebook announced that they will drastically reduce the reach of our page by labeling us as a ‘fake news’ source. 

“Where does this end? Are Americans really free to express ourselves if Big Tech can strangle our free speech on a whim? Now is the time to address this seriously. If we don’t grasp the severity of this imminent threat, we will wake up one day to realize our freedom to express our thoughts and hear alternative views has been taken away with the click of a button.”

View PragerU’s 5-minute video explaining Section 230 and PragerU’s legal battle against Google/YouTube here.

Read Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act here.

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