President Trump is fighting back against the censorship of Americans online.
- President Trump has issued an order to uphold free and open debate on online platforms.
- The order calls for the start of a regulatory process to clarify the scope of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to ensure social media companies who claim to provide users a forum for free and open speech, but engage in deceptive or pretextual censorship, will not be allowed to entitled to immunity for such actions. Social media companies should not receive liability protections when they act as editors of content on their platform or take down lawful speech based on politics.
It also instructs the Federal Trade Commission to consider prohibiting social media companies from engaging in any deceptive acts or practices affecting commerce. Federal agencies will review policies and procedures regarding taxpayer dollars that are going to online platforms that inappropriately restrict free speech. Furthermore, the order establishes a working group to develop model legislation that States could adopt. The idea that large, powerful social media companies have the ability to censor opinions they disagree is fundamentally un-American and anti-democratic.
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