The United States' President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Thursday to limit the legal protection that federal law currently grants social media companies and other online platforms. According to the report from a news agency, people who are familiar with the draft claims the order would make it easier for federal regulators to hold social media giants liable for suspending accounts, deleting posts, and curbing free speech.

The draft of the order comes a day after Twitter applied a "fact-checking notice" to the president's tweets on Tuesday following several claims of voter fraud. Trump accused the platform for violating free speech. If passed, the executive order would become the administration's most aggressive course of action against social media companies, which the president has continuously called out for years.


Federal Law

The social media companies are currently protected under a broad federal law that was adopted by the U.S. Congress in the 1996 Communications Decency Act. Under Section 230, online companies are granted immunity from being held liable over the actions of their users. They are also not responsible for multiple police contents on their sites.

The draft order will strip tech companies of their Section 230 protection if they discriminate or act against users without conducting a fair hearing. Limiting a user's access to a platform or performing acts that are not written within the company's terms of service may also lead to the removal of their protection. Federal regulators would also enhance an online bias reporting tool the administration had set up. Federal agencies would also be encouraged to review their advertising contracts with online companies that censors speech.

The president has previously threatened legal action against social media companies who go against decisions the presidents make. Last year, the White House drafted an order that aimed to penalize platforms for allegedly showing bias against conservatives but have yet to provide evidence to support their claims. A federal judge also rejected a lawsuit that claimed the tech giants conspired to prevent conservative views online.

Social Media Companies Respond

Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg slammed Twitter for attaching a fact-check notice to the president's tweets. In an interview with recently, he claimed digital platforms should not be the "arbiter of truth." In response to the president's warning, he claimed to choose to shut platforms due to worries about censorship was not the right reflex.

On Wednesday night, Jack Dorsey-Twitter's CEO-said he was ultimately accountable for the decision to attach a fact-check notice to the president's tweets. He urged the people not to blame his employees.

Dorsey also responded to Zuckerberg's statements by claiming the controversial notice does not make Twitter an "arbiter of truth." He said they only intended to clarify conflicting reports and show the information in dispute to help the general public judge for themselves. He also claimed transparency is essential, so the users of his platform can see the reason behind their actions.

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