Trump Drafts Executive Order To End Social Media Censorship of Conservatives

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President Trump has laid the groundwork to launch a crackdown on the censorship of conservatives by liberal social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter. 

President Trump has laid the groundwork to launch a crackdown on the censorship of conservatives by liberal social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter. 

According to Bloomberg News, an Executive Order has been drafted that will instruct law enforcement and federal antitrust agencies to open probes into the “platform bias” of Google, Facebook and Twitter in regards to the censorship and suppression of conservative voices on social media.

The executive order is in its preliminary stages and hasn’t yet been run past other government agencies, said a White House official.

Bloomberg News, which has seen a copy of the draft executive order, reports: The document instructs U.S. antitrust authorities to “thoroughly investigate whether any online platform has acted in violation of the antitrust laws.” It instructs other government agencies to recommend within a month after it’s signed, actions that could potentially protect competition among online platforms and address online platform bias.

If signed, the order would represent a significant escalation of Trump’s aversion to Google, Facebook, Twitter and other social media companies, whom he’s publicly accused of silencing conservative voices and news sources online.

The press offices of Google, Facebook and Twitter didn’t respond Saturday to emails and telephone calls requesting comment outside of normal office hours.

Trump’s Complaint

“Social Media is totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices,” Trump said on Twitter in August. “Speaking loudly and clearly for the Trump Administration, we won’t let that happen. They are closing down the opinions of many people on the RIGHT, while at the same time doing nothing to others.”

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The draft Executive Order is awaiting Donald Trump’s signature.

The draft order directs that any actions federal agencies take should be “consistent with other laws” — an apparent nod to concerns that it could threaten the traditional independence of U.S. law enforcement or conflict with the First Amendment, which protects political views from government regulation.

“Because of their critical role in American society, it is essential that American citizens are protected from anticompetitive acts by dominant online platforms,” the order says. It adds that consumer harm — a key measure in antitrust investigations– could come “through the exercise of bias.”

The order’s preliminary status is reflected in the text of the draft, which includes a note in red that the first section could be expanded “if necessary, to provide more detail on role of platforms and the importance of competition.”

The possibility of an executive order emerged as Attorney General Jeff Sessions prepares for a Sept. 25 briefing by state attorneys general who are already investigating the tech firms’ practices.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has already launched a probe into the practices of tech giants.

Federal Case

The meeting, which will include a representative of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, is intended to help Sessions decide if there’s a federal case to be made against the companies, two people familiar with the matter have said. At least one of the attorneys general participating in the meeting has indicated he seeks to break up the companies.

Growing movements on the right and the left argue that companies including Google and Facebook engage in anti-competitive behavior. The companies reject the accusation, arguing they face robust competition and that many of their products are free. Bias has not typically figured in antitrust examinations.

In July, for instance, Twitter algorithms limited the visibility of some Republicans in profile searches. Jack Dorsey, the company’s chief executive officer, testified before Congress in September that the limits also affected some Democrats as the site tried to enforce policies against threats, hate, harassment or other forms of abusive speech. The moves were reversed.

A Pew Research Center survey earlier this year found that 72 percent of Americans, and 85 percent of Republicans, think it’s likely that social media companies intentionally censor political viewpoints that those companies find objectionable.

Baxter Dmitry

Baxter Dmitry

Baxter Dmitry is a writer at The People's Voice. He covers politics, business and entertainment. Speaking truth to power since he learned to talk, Baxter has travelled in over 80 countries and won arguments in every single one. Live without fear.
Email: baxter@thepeoplesvoice.tv
Baxter Dmitry

10 Comments

  1. President Trump needs to shut down the “Internet of Things” for a week and then re-launch with NEW DIGITAL KEYS to neutralize Hillary’s current control through Entrust Corp. and the Federal Common Policy Committee.

    • I hope he can force the biased company’s to be unable to shut down the conservative opinion. Twitter and the rest IE facebook etc are definitely shutting down conservative values in favor of their owners PC and demented cosmology. They attempt to force everyone to accede to their “definition” of wrong and right ignoring the freedom of speech. That’s the liberal left “soros” plan for the USA as well as the world. When anal sex is actually taught at Harvard University and the amoral are lifted up above anyone else we know something is radically wrong !!!! I have watched the very definitions of words change in the last 50 years….. words such as “tolerance” “decency” “moral” “right” “wrong” “liberal” “positive” ETC Just like “gay” in the forty’s meant happy and faggot meant a bundle of branches, cool was about the temperature…. not the attitude and today the word “bigot” means anyone who doesn’t agree with you 100% from my perspective it is quite sad to see

  2. until we stop letting the puppert`SS parden 500 killer mobsters every ten years-we have no real goverment just the rich killing whoevers whenever they want

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