White House wants to clip big tech’s wings
TOUGH TIMES Justice dept calls on Congress to roll back legal protections for FB, Google, Twitter
WASHINGTON: The US justice department has proposed that Congress roll back legal protections for online platforms, putting legislative form to President Donald Trump’s war against Twitter and other social media companies.
The proposed changes announced by the Trump administration would strip some of the long-held protections of companies such as Facebook, Google and Twitter shielding them generally from legal responsibility for what people post on their platforms. “When it comes to issues of public safety, the government is the one who must act on behalf of society at large. Law enforcement cannot delegate our obligations to protect the safety of the American people purely to the judgment of profit-seeking private firms,” attorney general William Barr said in a statement.
The legislative changes would ensure that the internet companies’ legal immunity becomes an incentive for them “to be responsible actors,” Barr said. They “are targeted at platforms to make certain they are appropriately addressing illegal and exploitive content while continuing to preserve a vibrant, open, and competitive internet.”
In a politically charged flourish last month, Trump signed an executive order challenging the protections from lawsuits under a 1996 telecommunications law that have served as a bedrock for unfettered speech on the internet.
Trump lashed out at Twitter for applying fact checks to two of his tweets. He said the fact checks were “editorial decisions” by Twitter amounting to political activism - and that such actions should cost social media companies their liability protection for material posted on their platforms. He accused Twitter of interfering in the 2020 presidential election.
But Trump, with an estimated 60 million followers on Twitter, has weaponised the platform to verbally eviscerate opponents and promote himself. He has long accused the tech giants in liberalleaning Silicon Valley of targeting conservatives by fact-checking them or removing their post
Tech industry groups have opposed the Trump initiative, saying it would stifle innovation and speech on the internet. The companies are granted liability protection under the 1996 Communications Decency Act as they are treated as “platforms”, rather than “publishers”, which can face lawsuits over content.