Donald Trump signs executive order against social media firms amid row over Twitter fact-check

US President Donald Trump said he will introduce legislation that may scrap or weaken a law that has long protected internet companies, including Twitter and Facebook, an extraordinary attempt to intervene in the media that experts said was unlikely to survive legal scrutiny. Trump signed an executive order on Thursday afternoon after attacking Twitter for tagging his tweets about unsubstantiated claims of fraud in mail-in voting with a warning prompting readers to fact-check the posts. Trump said his administration may “remove or change” a law known as Section 230 through legislation so social media companies will not enjoy this legal immunity, which protects such platforms from liability for content posted by their users. Trump said US Attorney General William Barr will begin drafting legislation “immediately” to regulate social media companies. A draft of the document, seen by Reuters, shows the White House’s plan to modify Section 230. “What I think we can say is we’re going to regulate it,” Trump said at the signing of the order. “I’ve been called by Democrats that want to do this, so I think you could possibly have a bipartisan situation,” said Republican Trump, who is running for re-election in the November 3 vote. Facebook and Twitter did not immediately comment on the executive order. Trump’s remarks and the draft order, as written, attempts to circumvent Congress and the courts in directing changes to long-established interpretations of Section 230. It represents his latest attempt to use the tools of the presidency to force private companies to change policies that he believes are not favourable to him. How Covid-19 pushed Twitter to fact-check Trump’s tweets “In terms of presidential efforts to limit critical commentary about themselves, I think one would have to go back to the Sedition Act of 1798 – which made it illegal to say false things about the president and certain other public officials – to find an attack supposedly rooted in law by a president on any entity which comments or prints comments about public issues and public people,” said First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams. Others like Jack Balkin, a Yale University constitutional law professor, said “The president is trying to frighten, coerce, scare, cajole social media companies to leave him alone and not do what Twitter has just done to him.” Twitter’s shares were down 4.4 per cent on Thursday. Facebook was down 1.7 per cent and Google parent Alphabet was up slightly. Trump, who uses Twitter heavily to promote his policies and insult his opponents, has long claimed without evidence that the service is biased in favour of Democrats. He and his supporters have levelled the same unsubstantiated charges against Facebook, which Trump’s presidential campaign uses heavily as an advertising vehicle. Earlier on Thursday, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Trump’s planned order “outrageous” and a “distraction” from the current coronavirus crisis, and criticised tech companies for their selective action or inaction regarding harmful or false posts. The protections of Section 230 have often been under fire for different reasons, with critics arguing that they give internet companies a free pass on things like hate speech and content that supports terror organisations. Senator Josh Hawley has introduced legislation to change to law, but that effort is in its early stages. Social media companies have been under pressure from many quarters, both in the United States and other countries, to better control misinformation and harmful content on their services. Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said on the company’s website late on Wednesday that the president’s tweets “may mislead people into thinking they don’t need to register to get a ballot. Our intention is to connect the dots of conflicting statements and show the information in dispute so people can judge for themselves.” National Guard called in as George Floyd protests spread beyond Minneapolis On Friday, Twitter accused Trump of “glorifying violence”, attaching a disclaimer to one of his tweets about unrest in Minneapolis that it said broke its rules. “ … These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!” Trump’s tweet read. Trump’s message can now be read only after clicking on a notice which says: “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.” In a thread, Twitter said it had taken the action “in the interest of preventing others from being inspired to commit violent acts”. People will still “be able to retweet with comment, but will not be able to like, reply or retweet it.”