President Donald Trump escalated his war on Twitter and other social media companies Thursday, signing an executive order challenging the lawsuit protections that have served as a bedrock for unfettered speech on the internet.
Announced with fanfare, the presidentB次元官网网址檚 action yet appeared to be more about politics than substance. He aims to rally supporters after he lashed out at Twitter for applying fact checks to two of his tweets.
Trump said the fact checks were B次元官网网址渆ditorial decisionsB次元官网网址� by Twitter amounting to political activism and that such actions should cost social media companies their liability protection for what is posted on their platforms.
Trump, who personally relies heavily on Twitter to verbally flog his foes, has long accused the tech giants in liberal-leaning Silicon Valley of targeting conservatives by fact-checking them or removing their posts.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e fed up with it,B次元官网网址� Trump said, claiming his order would uphold freedom of speech.
Technology industry groups disagreed, saying it would stifle innovation and speech on the internet. And the U.S. Chamber of Commerce objected, B次元官网网址淩egardless of the circumstances that led up to this, this is not how public policy is made in the United States.B次元官网网址�
The executive order directs executive branch agencies to ask independent rule-making agencies including the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission to study whether they can place new regulations on the companies B次元官网网址� though experts express doubts much can be done without an act of Congress.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement: B次元官网网址淭his debate is an important one. The Federal Communications Commission will carefully review any petition for rulemaking filed by the Department of Commerce.B次元官网网址�
Companies like Twitter and Facebook are granted liability protection under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act because they are treated as B次元官网网址減latforms,B次元官网网址� rather than B次元官网网址減ublishers,B次元官网网址� which can face lawsuits over content.
A similar executive order was previously considered by the administration but shelved over concerns it couldnB次元官网网址檛 pass legal muster and that it violated conservative principles on deregulation and free speech.
B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檝e had unchecked power to censor, restrict, edit, shape, hide, alter virtually any form of communication between private citizens or large public audiences,B次元官网网址� Trump said of social media companies as he prepared to sign the order. B次元官网网址淭here is no precedent in American history for so small a number of corporations to control so large a sphere of human interaction.B次元官网网址�
Trump and his campaign reacted after Twitter added a warning phrase to two Trump tweets that called mail-in ballots B次元官网网址渇raudulentB次元官网网址� and predicted B次元官网网址渕ail boxes will be robbed.B次元官网网址� Under the tweets, thereB次元官网网址檚 now a link reading B次元官网网址淕et the facts about mail-in ballotsB次元官网网址� that guides users to a page with fact checks and news stories about TrumpB次元官网网址檚 unsubstantiated claims.
Trump accused Twitter of interfering in the 2020 presidential electionB次元官网网址� and declared B次元官网网址渁s president, I will not allow this to happen.B次元官网网址� His campaign manager, Brad Parscale, said TwitterB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渃lear political biasB次元官网网址� had led the campaign to pull B次元官网网址渁ll our advertising from Twitter months ago.B次元官网网址� In fact, Twitter has banned political advertising since last November.
Late Wednesday, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted, B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檒l continue to point out incorrect or disputed information about elections globally.B次元官网网址�
On the other hand, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told Fox B次元官网网址 his platform has B次元官网网址渁 different policy, I think, than Twitter on this.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚 just believe strongly that Facebook shouldnB次元官网网址檛 be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online,B次元官网网址� he said.
The presidentB次元官网网址檚 critics, meanwhile, scolded the platforms for allowing him to put forth false or misleading information that could confuse voters.
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat and advocate for internet freedoms, said Trump was B次元官网网址渄esperately trying to steal for himself the power of the courts and Congress. B次元官网网址� All for the ability to spread unfiltered lies.B次元官网网址�
TrumpB次元官网网址檚 proposal has multiple, serious legal problems and is unlikely to survive a challenge, according to Matt Schruers, president of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, a Washington-based organization that represents computer and internet companies.
It would also seem to be an assault on the same online freedom that enabled social media platforms to flourish in the first place B次元官网网址� and made them such an effective microphone for Trump and other politicians.
B次元官网网址淭he irony that is lost here is that if these protections were to go away social media services would be far more aggressive in moderating content and terminating accounts,B次元官网网址� Schruers said. B次元官网网址淥ur vibrant public sphere of discussion would devolve into nothing more than preapproved soundbites.B次元官网网址�
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it was B次元官网网址渙utrageousB次元官网网址� that while Twitter had put a fact-check tag on TrumpB次元官网网址檚 tweets asserting massive mail-in election fraud, it had not removed his tweets repeating a debunked conspiracy theory that a TV news host had murdered an aide years ago.
The president and fellow conservatives have been claiming, for years, that Silicon Valley tech companies are biased against them. But there is no evidence for this B次元官网网址� and while the executives and many employees of Twitter, Facebook and Google may lean liberal, the companies have stressed they have no business interest in favouring one political party over the other.
The trouble began in 2016, two years after Facebook launched a section called B次元官网网址渢rending,B次元官网网址� using editors to curate popular news stories. Zuckerberg met with prominent right-wing leaders at the time in an attempt at damage control, and in 2018, Facebook shut down the B次元官网网址渢rendingB次元官网网址� section,.
In August 2018, Trump accused Google of biased searches and warned the company to B次元官网网址渂e careful.B次元官网网址� Google pushed back sharply, saying TrumpB次元官网网址檚 claim simply wasnB次元官网网址檛 so, and experts suggested his comments showed a misunderstanding of how search engines work.
Last year, Trump again blasted social media companies after Facebook banned a slew of extremist figures including conspiracy peddler Alex Jones from its site and from Instagram.
Meanwhile, the companies are gearing up to combat misinformation around the November elections. Twitter and Facebook have begun rolling out dozens of new rules to avoid a repeat of the false postings about the candidates and the voting process that marred the 2016 election.
The coronavirus pandemic has further escalated the platformsB次元官网网址� response, leading them to take actions against politicians B次元官网网址� a move theyB次元官网网址檝e long resisted B次元官网网址� who make misleading claims about the virus.
Last month, Twitter began a B次元官网网址淕et the FactsB次元官网网址� label to direct social media users to news articles from trusted outlets next to tweets containing misleading or disputed information about the virus.
As the White House claimed that Trump was the subject of a fact check but Chinese disinformation about the coronavirus was not, Twitter moved Thursday to add a warning to a March tweet from a Chinese government spokesman falsely claiming the U.S. military spread the virus.
Even as he and his supporters complain of bias on the platform, Trump has used Twitter to build a potent and vocal online following. The presidentB次元官网网址檚 account currently has more than 80 million followers.
TrumpB次元官网网址檚 success on social media suggests that his proposal may be more about politics than an actual interest in regulation, according to Rutgers University media professor John Pavlik, who studies the impact of technology on society and government.
Pavlik said that by trying to intimidate the platforms now, heB次元官网网址檚 seeking to control how the 2020 campaign plays out online and B次元官网网址渁bout appealing to his base.B次元官网网址�
Zeke Miller, The Associated Press
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