GOP's Hagerty rips Big Tech for welcoming authoritarians like Putin, yet 'censoring' conservatives

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Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., speaks to Fox News' Kelly Laco at CPAC 2022 in Orlando, Florida.

ORLANDO, Fla. – GOP Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty blasted Big Tech for its hypocrisy over what it chooses to censor on its platforms or not.

The senator, speaking on Saturday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), told Fox News Digital it's "amazing" to see how Big Tech picks and chooses which viewpoints to silence on its platforms.

Authoritarians, such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said, are "welcome" on large social media platforms — while conservatives in America, such as former President Donald Trump, are silenced.

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"It’s amazing to me that this is the path that Big Tech seems to choose. Where authoritarians are welcome to use Big Tech. Where the Ayatollah can call for ‘death for America,’ yet they’ll censor a president of the United States."

Sen. Bill Hagerty, a Republican from Tennessee, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, U.S., on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. Launched in 1974, the Conservative Political Action Conference is the largest gathering of conservatives in the world. (Photographer: Tristan Wheelock/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Hagerty was referring to how Twitter has allowed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to tweet threats against the U.S., yet it has permanently banned Trump and a number of his conservative colleagues from the platform.

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Hagerty said one solution to this double standard is the Big Tech bill, introduced in April 2021, which he said unfortunately doesn’t have a single Democratic supporter in the Senate.

The Tennessee senator said the legislation would regulate Big Tech and make companies "explicitly state the criteria" if they want to censor something.

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Hagerty said that currently under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, tech companies have "very broad criteria" to interpret what is "offensive," and they are using it to say that anything that is conservative is offensive.

Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., attends the Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing for Wendy Sherman, nominee for deputy secretary of State, and Brian McKeon, nominee for deputy secretary of State for management and resources, in Dirksen Building on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Republicans have targeted Section 230 and introduced a number of legislative packages aimed at reforming the law.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., also called for Big Tech to be held accountable for stifling conservative viewpoints, while allowing authoritarian "thugs," such as Putin, to continue using their platforms.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux) (AP)

"Canceling and silencing people is the latest book burning. That’s what they’re doing. They’re canceling and silencing people on the internet, and it’s book burning," Scott told Fox News Digital at CPAC.

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Fox News' Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.