Texas Ethics Commission considering rule that targets citizen social posts

The attack on free speech by Democrats has been something shocking to watch the last few years. It especially started during the COVID-19 pandemic, with many social media companies told to silence any dissenting opinion on both the virus itself, and later, the totally ineffective joke of a vaccine that the CDC pushed on Americans.

It has happened with Facebook, Twitter, and even tech giant Google has been found guilty of suppressing search results to favor more Left-leaning ideologies. As if it could not get any worse, there is now a new push from the Texas Ethics Commission to install a new rule that would essentially target any citizen posts about politics.

Their reasoning for the rule is, in their words, to cut down on those social media influencers who profit off endorsing or backing specific candidates. But Barndon Waltens of Texas Scorecard says this opens another can of dangerous worms.

"It allows the commission then to investigate any sort of social media post in favor, or against, a political candidate...which is a dangerous position for first amendment rights," he says.

It is not just some unbased idea either. It has actual roots. The Commission at their March 20th meeting unanimously moves to consider the rule, which will likely happen at their next meeting on June 20th.

But again, this would not just go after influencers, it could open up the possibility of going after anyone who posts about politics.

"Anyone can complain about someone else...this is not about the social media companies themselves...this has to do with the users, which makes it much worse," he says. "That is enough to cause a lot of people to not post politically at all."

On social media, the idea of logical dissent and debate is a total fantasy. People just yell at one another from the safety of their own bubbles. But this would effectively kill any kind of dissent or unpopular opinion. At the very least, it would open up someone with an unpopular opinion to an ethics investigation.

Beyond just killing opinion though, it gives Democrats more ammunition to use against Republicans.

"You open up this door where Democrats...or anyone really...could use this to target their political enemies," says Waltens.

No timeline has been officially set to consider the new rule, but it is likely to be heard at their June 20th meeting.