Sen. Dahm files bills to fight Big Tech censorship, social credit scores

OKLAHOMA CITY – Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, filed two bills and a joint resolution to push back on tech censorship and social credit scores.

“During the 2020 election, we saw firsthand the unchecked power of Big Tech,” Dahm said. “Censoring a major newspaper, crushing the dissemination of stories it didn’t like, silencing those that didn’t follow the predetermined narrative, and even going so far as to remove a service from the internet entirely. Now, they are trying to implement the policies of communist China with social credit scores.”

A social credit score system uses government surveillance to assign citizens a score based on their behavior and adherence to government regulation. This score can then be used to restrict the individual in society through denial of services.

Senate Bill 1644 would prohibit the use or implementation of social credit scores in the state of Oklahoma. Senate Joint Resolution 38 proposes an amendment to the state constitution to make social credit scores unlawful. If passed by both legislative bodies, the amendment would be placed on the ballot for a vote of the people.

“Social credit scores have no place in a free society,” Dahm said. “If we want to remain the freest nation on earth, we shouldn’t be taking cues from dystopian novels or communist China.”

SB 1815 prohibits any entity operating under the protections of a platform, as defined by the Communications Decency Act, from engaging in censorship activities.

“Big Tech has grown far too zealous in its desire to censor individuals that it doesn’t like,” Dahm said. “This bill will make it much more costly for them to engage in censorship.”

These proposals will be considered in the upcoming legislative session, beginning on Feb. 7.

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For more information, contact:  Sen. Nathan Dahm, 405-521-5551 or Nathan.Dahm@oksenate.gov.