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.