A few days ago, Twitter did something very brave indeed.
They fact-checked the King of All Liars.
It was a long time coming, though.
US President Donald Trump had made what seemed like hundreds of false and unverified claims on the social media site, including accusing MSNBC host Joe Scarborough of murder without any evidence.
….about whether or not Joe could have done such a horrible thing? Maybe or maybe not, but I find Joe to be a total Nut Job, and I knew him well, far better than most. So many unanswered & obvious questions, but I won’t bring them up now! Law enforcement eventually will?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2020
Still, Trump doesn’t like being told he’s wrong, which is why he threatened to sign an executive order aimed at regulating or shutting down social media companies.
Some thought that would be too petty, even for Trump, but they were wrong.
He actually signed it.
Taking Away Legal Protection
According to BBC, the order aims to remove some of the legal protections that online platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube currently have.
At the moment, because of a US law called the Communications Decency Act, social media companies are not held responsible for the content their users post. They can block content that is obscene, harassing, or violent, but that’s about it.
This new executive order that Trump signed argues that these companies should not have legal protection if they edit content posted by its users.
In Trump’s case, this refers to Twitter adding fact-checker warnings to his tweets. Trump and his supporters argue that the moment a social network like Twitter and Facebook starts editing their users content, they are no longer a forum but a publisher.
And if they are a publisher, they should be treated like one.
“The law still protects social media companies like Twitter because they are considered forums not publishers,” Republican senator Marco Rubio said.
“But if they have now decided to exercise an editorial role like a publisher, then they should no longer be shielded from liability and treated as publishers under the law.”
So, this order will give regulators the power to take legal actions against such companies for the way they censor or edit content on their platforms.
The order is expected to face legal challenges.
So, What Will Change?
Right now? Nothing much, actually.
See, an executive order is simply an order from the president within the bounds of what he already has the power to do. So Trump can’t just make wearing pants illegal even if he really wants to.
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It is not legislation, and without action from Congress, there are limits to what Trump can do, according to CNBC.
Plus, it will be a long time before the order actually has any effect.
According to BBC, for Trump’s order to be implemented, federal law will have to be reviewed, and new regulations will have to be introduced, voted on, and defended in court.
By the time all this happens, Trump may no longer President.
So this may be more of a scare tactic than an actual desire to change the law. As BBC reported, this move may be meant to intimidate Twitter and make them think twice before fact-checking his tweets again.
Also, this is only in the US; Singapore has its own laws and regulations, so it won’t affect us at all.
Social Media Response
Twitter called the order “a reactionary and politicized approach to a landmark law,” saying that the current law “protects American innovation and freedom of expression, and it’s underpinned by democratic values”.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook and deceptively humanlike alien, previously disagreed with Twitter’s decision to fact-check Trump, saying private companies shouldn’t be the “the arbiter of truth”.
But he too, however, believed that the new move to censor social media companies would not be the “right reflex” for a government concerned about censorship.
Whether this law is amended remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure; Trump really hates being corrected.
Trump: FAKE NEWS!
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