Getty Ted Cruz vs Beto O'Rourke
One of the first questions in the Ted Cruz vs. Beto O’Rourke debated discussed the potential spread of misinformation online and voter security. Cruz said he did not want social media content regulated online, and Beto O’Rourke favored it. Here are their answers.
“The integrity of our ballot box … is sacred,” O’Rourke said. “It’s under attack unlike any other time… The intelligence community has reached a unanimous conclusion…that the Russians sought to undermine (the election.) … We know they will attack us again in this election and the next unless we stand up to them now.”
He said he was surprised Cruz voted against funding to
“(We) must also ensure on social media … that we are not manipulated and that opinions that we hold are not shaped by those of other countries…”
Ted Cruz responded that he supported funding to secure the election, and the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the DETER act to punish anyone who comes to the country to undermine the election. He said he helped lead that act.
Should Congress be regulating social media companies, however?
“I don’t believe Congress should be in the business of regulating content,” Cruz said. “It’s not the government’s job to regulate content online. I’m very concerned…about the political bias of big tech … skewing and silencing the voices of those they politically disagree with…”
He talked about Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony to the Senate. “Even though Congress shouldn’t regulate the content… Right now big tech enjoys immunity from liability on the assumption they can be neutral and fair… If they’re going to be biased, we should repeal the immunity… The giant tech companies…if they’re abusing the market powers of monopoly, the antitrust laws should be enforced.”
O’Rourke responded with concern about Cruz’s investments.
“Yes, I think we can have thoughtful regulations that ensure we’re making informed decisions based on facts and the truth and we’re not being manipulated by foreign powers,” he said, and then added. “Cruz invested more than $5 million in Cambridge Analytica, which is the very company that helped undermine our democracy.”