Online censorship of conservative voices is liberals' attempt to kill the Republican Party, Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., told Newsmax TV.
"Anyone who disagrees with the liberal ideas is an insurgent," DesJarlais told co-hosts Bob Sellers and Heather Childers on Tuesday's "American Agenda." "We see this by what the big tech platforms have done to conservatives leading up to the election, and it seems like there's no stopping them.
"In 2008, after they got control of the White House, the Senate and the House, they declared the Republican Party dead. And now, they seem to be trying to find ways to make sure that happens."
DesJarlais said private online companies such as Twitter and Facebook have "gotten bigger than we ever could have imagined." He added steps must be taken to rein in their ability to ban people with whom they disagree.
"In 1996, there was a bill passed, the Communications Decency Act, Section 230, that actually protected them from censoring free speech," DesJarlais said, "and now they've kind of turned the tables, and they're picking and choosing who is to be censored."
Twitter permanently banned former President Donald Trump's account following the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol. This week, it did the same to the account of MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell for alleged violations of the platform's misinformation policy.
DesJarlais has sponsored a bill, HR-83, that would protect an individual's constitutional rights from online platform censorship.
"In a sense, they have become the fact checkers and are determining what is free speech and what isn't," he said. "It's become a real danger."
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