Trump targets social media firms
Review sought of law that protects Twitter
WASHINGTON • U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to order a review of a law that has long protected internet companies, including Twitter and Facebook, an extraordinary attempt to intervene in the media that experts said was unlikely to survive legal scrutiny.
The executive order was proposed after Trump attacked Twitter for tagging his tweets about unsubstantiated claims of fraud in mail-in voting with a warning prompting readers to fact-check the posts.
The draft order seen by Reuters directs federal agencies to modify the way a law known as Section 230, which protects internet companies from liability for content posted by their users, is implemented. It also orders a review of alleged “unfair or deceptive practices” by Facebook and Twitter, and calls on the government to reconsider advertising on services judged to “violate free speech principles.”
Officials said on Wednesday that Trump would sign the order on Thursday.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Section 230 is one of the shields that protects social media companies. “We’re looking at ways to remove those shields to shed some light on what is happening (with) some of the decision-making behind the scenes.”
Facebook and Twitter declined to comment.
The draft order, as written, attempts to circumvent Congress and the courts in directing changes to long-established interpretations of Section 230. It represents the latest attempt by Trump to use the tools of the Presidency to force private companies to change policies that he believes are not favourable to him.
Jack Balkin, a Yale University constitutional law professor, said “The president is trying to frighten, coerce, scare, cajole social media companies to leave him alone and not do what Twitter has just done to him.”
He said the order would likely have little effect legally.
Trump, who uses Twitter heavily to promote his policies and insult his opponents, has long claimed without evidence that the service is biased in favour of Democrats. He and his supporters have levelled the same charges against Facebook, which Trump’s presidential campaign uses heavily as an advertising vehicle.