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Clock runs out on social media bill: lawmakers shield themselves and Polis from historic override
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Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Clock runs out on social media bill: lawmakers shield themselves and Polis from historic override

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice The Senate overrode the governor’s veto. The House never even had to say no. In Colorado politics, sometimes the clock matters more than the votes. Without casting a single "no" vote, Colorado lawmakers on April 28 killed a bipartisan attempt to override Governor Jared Polis’ veto of a social media regulation bill. Just days earlier, the Senate had voted 29–6 to override the veto of Senate Bill 25-086, marking the state's first successful chamber override of a policy bill in more than a decade.  But when the bill reached the House, members voted 51–13 to lay over the override until after the legislative session ended. As reported by The Colorado Sun, the maneuver guaranteed the bill’s death without a formal vote, allowing lawmakers to av...
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Free speech or safer feeds? Colorado reacts after Senate overrides veto of social media bill
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Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Free speech or safer feeds? Colorado reacts after Senate overrides veto of social media bill

By Marissa Ventrelli | Denver Gazette Several groups on Friday lauded the Colorado state Senate's veto override of a bill that seeks to impose certain regulations on social media platforms in the hopes they would crack down on users who violate their rules, while critics called the bill censorious and argued it would give tech companies "too much power" to "de-platform" people. The Senate voted to override the governor's veto on a 29-6 vote. The state House is expected to hold its override vote next week. Senate Bill 086 would require social media companies to evaluate reports of policy violations within 72 hours. If a user is found to have violated the policy, the platform must remove that person or entity within 24 hours. The bill would also require social media companies to sub...
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Colorado Senate overrides Gov. Jared Polis veto of social media bill
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Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Colorado Senate overrides Gov. Jared Polis veto of social media bill

By Marianne Goodland | Denver Gazette The state Senate voted 29-6 on Friday morning to override Gov. Jared Polis's veto of a social media bill. The 29-6 vote was five above the two-thirds majority required for an override. It's the first override of a Polis gubernatorial veto of a bill-or any bill from his three predecessors-since the administration of Gov. Roy Romer in 1988. There have been other veto overrides—in 2007 and 2011—but those were directions from the General Assembly to state agencies as part of the budget process. In at least three decades, no governor has vetoed a budget bill or even a line item in a budget bill, although they do veto those legislative directions occasionally. Senate Bill 86 would compel large social media companies to remove accounts engaged in ...
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Polis faces pressure as veto showdown looms on sweeping social media bill
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Approved, KUNC, State

Polis faces pressure as veto showdown looms on sweeping social media bill

By Bente Birkeland | CPR News On November 8, 2020, Chelsea Congdon’s life changed forever.  She and her husband had invited friends over for a backyard party at their home in Old Snowmass. They were building a bonfire when a car from the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Department pulled up.  “The policeman came and found us there and let us know that our son Miles had died in Boulder and his body had been discovered that morning,” she recently recalled to CPR News. “It felt very unreal. And it feels as if your entire life just shatters on the floor and for some reason, you’re still standing. I mean, it doesn’t make any sense. It’s impossible to put together losing a kid.” Her son, Miles Brundige, was a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Colorado. He’d grown up big ...
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Federal Trade Commission launches probe into big tech’s censorship of Americans
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Approved, National, The Daily Caller

Federal Trade Commission launches probe into big tech’s censorship of Americans

By Amber Duke | Daily Caller The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is opening up an official request for public comments on censorship by Big Tech companies. The agency is asking Americans to detail cases where they’ve faced consequences from companies for engaging in disfavored political speech, according to a draft document obtained by the Daily Caller. Requests for public comments by the FTC are often a precursor to formal investigations or agency-level policy changes, indicating the agency, helmed by Chairman Andrew Ferguson, does not intend to allow sweeping allegations of political censorship in prior years to go unchecked. “In case there was any doubt, Big Tech is on notice. We do not intend to take our foot off the gas any time soon. The days of censorship and monopolies are ...
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Vance tells world leaders AI must be ‘free from ideological bias,’ American tech won’t be censorship tool
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Approved, Fox Business, National

Vance tells world leaders AI must be ‘free from ideological bias,’ American tech won’t be censorship tool

By Michael Dorgan | Fox Business Vice President JD Vance told world leaders in Paris on Tuesday that the United States intends to remain the dominant force in artificial intelligence (AI) and warned that the European Union's far tougher regulatory approach to the technology could cripple it.  Vance warned that the technology should be free from ideological bias and that President Donald Trump's administration would ensure that the most powerful artificial intelligence systems would be built in the United States. He added that Washington wanted to partner with the world in the industry. "We feel very strongly that AI must remain free from ideological bias and that American AI will not be co-opted into a tool for authoritarian censorship," said Vance, at his first schedule...
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Biden admin would ‘scream’ and ‘curse’ at his employees, demanding censorship, Zuck tells Rogan
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Approved, Fox News, National

Biden admin would ‘scream’ and ‘curse’ at his employees, demanding censorship, Zuck tells Rogan

By Alexander Hall  | Fox News Meta CEO founder Mark Zuckerberg told podcaster Joe Rogan that members of President Biden's administration yelled at his employees, demanding they take down content on their behalf. Meta announced Tuesday that it would be ending its controversial fact-checking practices and lifting restrictions on speech to "restore free expression" across Facebook, Instagram and Meta platforms, admitting its current content moderation practices have "gone too far." Zuckerberg spoke about the platform's struggles to maintain freedom of expression while fending off pressure from the Biden administration amid the COVID-19 pandemic. READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX NEWS
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Mark Zuckerberg promises less censorship on Facebook as he scraps biased third-party ‘fact checkers’
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Approved, Breitbart, National

Mark Zuckerberg promises less censorship on Facebook as he scraps biased third-party ‘fact checkers’

By Lucas Nolan | Breitbart Mark Zuckerberg has announced major changes to Meta’s content moderation policies and practices on Facebook and Instagram, citing a desire to embrace free speech and avoid censorship. Zuckerberg’s changes begin with scrapping Facebook’s third-party “fact check” system which is notorious for its leftist bias. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, is undergoing a major overhaul of its content moderation practices. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Tuesday that the company will end its fact-checking program, plagued by severe leftist bias, and replace it with a community-driven system similar to X’s Community Notes. The changes come as a response to what Zuckerberg perceives as a “cultural tipping point” towards prioritizing speech, infl...
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Kaminsky: Obama’s ‘censorship’ office goes bankrupt and is closing up shop
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Approved, Commentary, National, The Daily Signal

Kaminsky: Obama’s ‘censorship’ office goes bankrupt and is closing up shop

By Gabe Kaminsky | Commentary, The Daily Signal The Global Engagement Center, an office housed within the State Department and aiming to thwart disinformation and misinformation, has been forced by Congress to close up shop. It’s no mystery why; the taxpayer-backed GEC violated its mandate to work only overseas and devolved into a partisan enabler of speech suppression in the United States. Here’s how. Founded in 2016 and technically the product of an Obama-era executive order on counterterrorism, the GEC lapsed in December and lost congressional funding. READ THE FULL COMMENTARY AT THE DAILY SIGNAL Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of t...
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FCC’s Brendan Carr: big tech must dismantle ‘censorship cartel’ including ‘Orwellian’ newsGuard
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Approved, Breitbart, National

FCC’s Brendan Carr: big tech must dismantle ‘censorship cartel’ including ‘Orwellian’ newsGuard

By Sean Moran | Breitbart Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Brendan Carr on Friday called on big tech platforms to dismantle the “censorship cartel,” charging that American democracy depends on it. Carr states that the tech Masters of the Universe, in conjunction with “the orwellian-named NewsGuard,” fact checking groups, and ad agencies, have enforced “one-sided narratives.” “Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft & others have played central roles in the censorship cartel. The Orwellian named NewsGuard along with “fact checking” groups & ad agencies helped enforce one-sided narratives. The censorship cartel must be dismantled,” Carr wrote on X/Twitter. Carr wrote to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Apple CEO Tim Cook ...
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