Intellectual Property Law

House GOP Launches a Republican Reddit

By David Kravets

House GOP members unveiled a Reddit-like website Tuesday that lets users submit and rank policy ideas in categories ranging from national security to “American values.”

“It gives Americans a voice in changing the way Washington works and the policy it pursues,” Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California), said Tuesday on a video posted atop the site, Americaspeakingout.

But how loud will that voice be? And will lawmakers listen to it?

McCarthy, who spearheaded the site on behalf of the Republican minority party, said lawmakers wouldn’t automatically adopt the most popular ideas. “It’s not American Idol,” McCarthy told CNN.

What’s more, according to its terms of service and privacy policies, the site’s admins may remove any content for whatever reason — giving the GOP a censorship option to keep the site on a rightward track. Presumably, if liberals start voting up proposals like “legalize  gay marriage” or “put terrorists on trial,” the House Republicans can quietly delete it.

(Reddit is owned by Condé Nast)

See Also:

• FBI Investigated Coder for Liberating Paywalled Court Records
• Hackers Deface Aussie Censorship Board’s Website
• Lawmakers Want to Bar Sites From Posting Sensitive Government Docs
• Telephone Company Is Arm of Government, Feds Admit in Spy Suit

Full post as published by Threat Level on May 25, 2010 (boomark / email).