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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., explained that a personal experience with Big Tech has led him to change his thinking, and he now believes companies should be liable for the content posted on their platforms.
Paul asserted that YouTube and its parent Google had refused to remove a video that falsely claimed that he had taken money from Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro.
“I’ve formally notified Google that this video is unsupported by facts, defames me, harasses me and now endangers my life. Google responded that they don’t investigate the truth of accusations… and refused to take down the video,” the senator asserted in the opinion piece published by the New York Post on Monday.
RAND PAUL SAYS US IN ‘ACTIVE WAR’ WITH VENEZUELA: ‘I STILL HOPE IT WORKS OUT FOR THE BEST’
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., talks with reporters in the Senate subway on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Paul also noted that the person who posted the offending video removed it “under threat of legal penalty.”
“My default position as a libertarian/conservative has been to defend the internet liability protections known in law as Section 230 of the Communications Act. The courts have largely ruled that Section 230 shields social-media companies from being sued for content created by third parties,” he wrote. “Until now, I had not sufficiently considered the effects of internet providers hosting content accusing people of committing crimes.”
The experience was a turning point in his thinking.
“The arrogance of Google to continue hosting this defamatory video and the resultant threats on my life have caused me to rethink Congress’ blind allegiance to liability shields,” he asserted.
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Sign with logos for Google and the Google-owned video streaming service YouTube at the Googleplex, the Silicon Valley headquarters of search engine and technology company Google Inc. in Mountain View, Calif., April 14, 2018. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
Paul accused the company of being inconsistent.
“So Google does not have a blanket policy of refraining to evaluate truth. Google chooses to evaluate what it believes to be true when it is convenient and consistent with its own particular biases,” he wrote.
“This complete lack of decency, this inconsistent moderation of truthfulness, this conscious refusal to remove illegal and defamatory content has led me to conclude that the internet exemption from liability, a governmentally granted privilege and a special exemption from our common law traditions, should not be encouraged by liability shields and I will pursue legislation toward that goal,” the senator explained.
RAND PAUL SAYS GOP COLLEAGUES ‘DON’T GIVE A S— ABOUT THESE PEOPLE IN THE BOATS’: THEY ‘SAY THEY’RE PRO-LIFE’
Chairman Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs confirmation hearing for then-President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought on Capitol Hill on Jan. 15, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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“I think Google is, or should be, liable for hosting this defamatory video that accuses me of treason, at least from the point in time when Google was made aware of the defamation and danger,” he asserted.
Fox News Digital reached out to Google for comment on Wednesday.
Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.
