COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio House of Representatives is considering a bill to crack down on big tech and social media companies from censoring its users. Supporters and opponents said it is a free speech issue, but are coming at it from different ends.

House Republicans Rep. Scott Wiggam, R-Wayne County, and Rep. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, who are aggravated with social media sites for suspending or banning conservative politicians and citizens, said the government needs to do something about it. So they have introduced a bill to prevent Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others from doing so to Ohioans.

"It's a good bill. It's a necessary bill, because freedom of speech is absolutely essential to a democracy," said James Taylor, president of The Heartland Institute a national conservative think tank.

Taylor said the terms and conditions of a given platform should not be acceptable for silencing anyone. 

"We have a small group of companies that have a monopoly over social media,” Taylor said. “Social media today is the primary way by which people communicate with each other. So if we have a small group of corporate entities that are stifling and censoring our free speech rights, government needs to step in and protect our unalienable free speech rights.”

Meanwhile, the ACLU of Ohio, who opposes the bill, agrees it is a free speech issue but disagrees with Taylor's take.

Chief Lobbyist Gary Daniels said when it comes to the First Amendment, government certainly cannot limit what you say nor can it compel you to speak. 

"That's exactly what House Bill 441 does. It essentially forces these private businesses to accommodate and host speech that they don't agree with or that they simply don't want to host on their platform," said Daniels. 

Daniels said that is the right of any private business.

"They have just as much right to do this as, for instance, if I were to walk into a department store or a convenience store with a shirt with my favored political candidate. If the clerk behind the counter wants to say, 'Look, take off that t-shirt or I'm not going to allow you in the store,' they have the right to do that," Daniels said.

Law researchers at the Statehouse question whether the bill would conflict with federal law. Section 230 of the law called the “Communications Decency Act” protects social media companies from what their users post. That way, the sites can't be held legally responsible.​

Florida and Texas have passed similar laws to what Ohio House Republicans are proposing, however, they are currently tied up in court.

So far, the Ohio House Civil Justice Committee has had two hearings on House Bill 441 for sponsor and proponent testimony. It is unclear when a hearing for opponents will take place.​