WASHINGTON, D.C.—A leaked summary of a Donald Trump executive order shows he plans to give government agencies sweeping powers to control how social media sites regulate content on their own platforms, according to a report by CNN, which obtained the leaked draft.
The order appears to be a response to what CNN called “an alleged but unproven systemic bias against conservatives by technology platforms.” About one month ago, Trump held a White House "summit" meeting of conservative leaders and media figures who gripe their views are somehow censored by major social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Such supposed censorship has long been a complaint of conservatives, though there exists no significant evidence of anti-conservative bias by the platforms.
"Today, I’m directing my administration to explore all regulatory and legislative solutions to protect free speech and the free speech rights of all Americans," Trump said at the summit on July 11, according to a Politico report.
As AVN.com has reported, first-term Republican Missouri Senator Josh Hawley has introduced legislation that would effectively scrap Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the law that prevents internet service providers and platforms from being held resposnible for content posted by others.
Section 230 is considered the fundamental cornerstone of online free speech, because without it, platforms and service providers would be tasked with the impossible burden of monitoring every communication that comes through their systems.
But Trump praised Hawley’s bill, which online civil liberties advocates say would end the internet as it currently exists, as "very important legislation." But with this week’s leaked documents, it appears that Trump intends not to wait for Hawley’s bill, and take internet censorship into his own hands.
The Trump order would give the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission—both currently under control of Trump-appointed Republicans—authority to dictate to social media companies how they regulate content on their sites, and to file lawsuits against companies who, in the administration’s judgment, misbehave when it comes to allowing or restricting certain types of content, according to an AlterNet report.
“It’s hard to put into words how mind bogglingly absurd this executive order is,” Evan Greer, deputy director of the online rights group Fight for the Future, said in a statemnet. “In the name of defending free speech it would allow mass government censorship of online content. In practice, it means whichever party is in power can decide what speech is allowed on the internet.”
But according to Politico, which first revealed the existence of the draft, what penalties could be imposed on internet companies as a result of actions under the executive order remained unclear—as did when or if the draft order would be completed and signed by Trump.
Photo By The White House / Wikimedia Commons Public Domain
