In the first hours of his second term, President Donald Trump focused on social media with a decree focused on what he described as “government censorship.”
The executive order states that no federal department or employee may use government resources to restrict the freedom of expression of American citizens.
Notably, it also looks to the past, directing the attorney general and heads of federal agencies to investigate conduct that occurred during the four years of the Biden administration that ended Monday. He alleges that the government has encroached on citizens’ freedom of expression “under the guise of fighting ‘misinformation,’ ‘disinformation,’ and ‘misinformation.’
The Biden administration, according to the order, has exerted “substantial coercive pressure on third parties, such as social media companies, to moderate, distort, or otherwise suppress speech that the federal government has not approved “.
In July, the The United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Biden administration in a case alleging it misused its contacts with social media companies.
Concerns regarding disinformation and online misinformation intensified during the 2016 election season and again during the COVID pandemic that began in 2020 as well as that year’s election cycle, related to topics such as voting processes, l foreign interference in American affairs, hate speech and vaccinations. Social media companies have implemented a number of policies aimed at pack the messages which potentially threatened public safety and health.
Trump himself was suspended for a period from social media sites including Twitter (now X) and Facebook following the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
The new order does not address the issue of misinformation and disinformation that can cause real harm or the potential risks they pose to the country. Additionally, it remains unclear exactly how this order might affect U.S. agencies responsible for monitoring online activities to detect potential threats to upcoming elections.
Tech executives are increasingly aligning themselves with claims that the government is going too far and pushing to moderate content on their platforms. Earlier this month, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the shutdown of third-party fact-checking program on Instagram and Facebook, replacing it with a user-driven moderation system called Community Notes, similar to X.
