Iowa Senate committee advances bill to penalize social media companies that censor speech

(The Center Square) – In a 10-6 vote, the Commerce Committee of the Iowa Senate advanced a bill that would prohibit any political entity in the state from entering into contracts or providing tax incentives to companies that restrict viewing constitutionally protected content online.

According to the text of SF 402: “A company shall not intentionally affect the ability of a citizen of this state to view, comment, or otherwise interact with a United States citizen’s content on the company’s internet site by limiting, blocking, or otherwise restricting any content on the company’s internet site if the content constitutes constitutionally protected speech."

The committee also adopted an amendment introduced by Sen. Jake Chapman, R-Adel. Amendment 1056 would allow companies the ability to restrict the ability of Iowans to view, comment or “otherwise interact” with a U.S. citizen’s content on the company’s internet site if the content contains content generated by bots, or intellectual property.