Pres. Donald Trump signed an executive order that is aimed at removing some of the legal protections given to the social media platforms, according to a recently published article. 


Pres. Trump and Social Media Platforms

Pres. Donald Trump is very known for being very vocal using his social media account. But, he has regularly accused social media giants Facebook and Twitter for stifling conservative voices. He said in a recent report: "The firms had 'unchecked power' to censure and edit the views of users." Recently, Trump tweeted on his social media account and he accused a social media giant of interfering in the election by adding a warning label to his tweets about claims of widespread fraud in mail-in voting or also known as postal votes. 

The executive order signed by Pers. Trump was strongly condemned by social media giants. Additionally, the latest tweet of the POTUS was hidden by Twitter because accordingly, it violates rules about glorifying violence.

What is in the Executive Order?

The executive order clarifies the protection of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and the likes in certain situations under the 1996 Communications Decency Act. On which, under 230 it was written that social media platforms are not generally held responsible for the contents posted by their users. 

In the EO signed by Trump, it points out that the immunity does not apply to a social media company that "edits content posted by its users, and calls for legislation from Congress to remove or change under section 230," according to a recently published article.

Additionally, it also means that "Deceptive blocking of posts, including removing a post for reasons other than those described in a website's terms of service, should not be offered immunity,"

In the Executive Order, the following are some of the highlights, according to a published article:

  •  The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to spell out what type of content blocking will be considered deceptive, pretextual, or inconsistent with a service provider's terms and conditions.
  • A review of government advertising on social media sites and whether those platforms impose viewpoint-based restrictions.
  • The re-establishment of the White House "tech bias reporting tool" that lets citizens report unfair treatment by social networks.

Meanwhile, there are lawmakers who supported and opposed the action of the federal government. One of those who supported is Rep. Ted Cruz from Texas who is known as a frequent critic of big tech companies. He said: "This executive order is an important acknowledgment that we can no longer afford to let Big Tech go unchecked. For too long, social media platforms like Twitter have hid behind their opaque algorithms and Section 230 immunity to target speech with which they disagree and advance their own political agendas."

However, the Democratic lawmakers did not like it. Sen. Richard Blumenthal described the Executive Order as "egregiously excessive with clearly malevolent intent to suppress free speech." While Sen. Mark Warner also said: "This is a sad distraction. At a time when common-sense regulation of these dominant companies is desperately needed, the President is threatening retaliation if they try to reign in the disinformation, targeted harassment, and voter suppression taking place on their platforms."

Read a related article: