The Trump administration has reportedly drafted an executive order targeting social media companies. The draft comes just days after a dispute between President Trump and Twitter, in which the social media company tagged two of Trump’s tweets as promoting unsubstantiated claims of fraud related to mail-in voting. Twitter tagged both tweets, cautioning users against the misinformation and encouraging readers to fact-check the posts.
Per Reuters, the drafted executive order calls on the Federal Communications Commission to propose and clarify regulations related to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The law currently exempts online platforms from legal liability for its users’ posts, but they executive order asks the FCC to examine whether or not social media platforms editing content on their platforms would equate to forfeiting protection under Section 230.
The administration’s drafted order also states that the White House Office of Digital Strategy will begin working toward re-establishing a tool to enable citizens to report cases of online censorship. Complaints would then be submitted to the Department of Justice and reviewed the Federal Trade Commission.
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While the FCC and the FTC have yet to comment on the drafted order, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said in an interview with Fox News that Twitter has decided “to engage the president of the United States with its own partisan, political viewpoint.”
Meanwhile, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey shared in a tweet late Wednesday night, “Our intention is to connect the dots of conflicting statements and show the information in dispute so people can judge for themselves. More transparency from us is critical so folks can clearly see the why behind our actions.”
The drafted order, which was first reported on by Reuters, has yet to be finalized and could still undergo changes before being signed. At this time, Trump officials claim they intend to sign the executive order on Thursday. The signing, however, isn’t listed on Trump’s official schedule.
