Twitter and Facebook oppose Trump decree to regulate social media
Twitter and Facebook have spoken out against a decree by US President Donald Trump that seeks to regulate social media. With the decree, Trump wants to make social media responsible for the content on their platforms.
The order states that a petition will be filed within two months asking the FCC to change its interpretation of the law. The law in question is section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. It protects companies from liability for what appears on their platforms, as long as they try to moderate in good faith.
Trump argues that the law has had a different effect than intended. “Section 230 was not intended to grow a small number of corporations into titans controlling vital avenues for national discourse, pretending to be open forums for debate, and then giving these behemoths immunity if they use their power to create content.” censor and silence views they don’t like.”
Twitter suggests that Trump is wrong. “Section 230 protects American innovation and freedom of speech. Attempts to erode it from one side threaten the future of online speech and internet freedom.”
Facebook believes removing section 230 will have the opposite effect, the company told The Verge. “By exposing companies to potential liability for everything billions of people around the world say, this would punish companies that choose to allow controversial opinions and encourage platforms to censor anything that might offend someone.”
The senator who co-authored Section 230, Ron Wyden of the state of Oregon, fears the same effect. “Trump has clearly targeted Section 230 because it protects the right of corporations not to host his lies. There is nothing in Section 230 about political neutrality.” It is unknown whether the order has the force of law to persuade the FCC to interpret Section 230 differently. That law is still valid.
With the decree, Trump fulfills his threat from earlier this week. He threatened to regulate social media after Twitter tagged some of his tweets to alert readers to fact-checked information on the topic. That action seems to be the reason, but the will to overthrow Section 230 has been alive within Trump and his supporters for some time.