Trump orders government not to infringe on Americans’ speech, calls for censorship investigation

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday ordered that no federal official, employee or agent may unconstitutionally restrict the free speech of an American citizen, a first step toward his campaign promise to dismantle what he called government “censorship” of American citizens.

The president’s executive order, issued just hours after he was sworn in for a second term, comes after Trump and his supporters accused the federal government of pressuring social media companies to remove legal posts due to concerns about misinformation.

The order also directs the attorney general, in consultation with other executive agency heads, to investigate how the federal government’s actions during the four years of the Biden administration may have undermined freedom of expression and to propose “corrective measures” on the basis of the conclusions.

Trump’s order, which he signed on stage at Capital One Arena along with a series of other executive actions, shows how motivated he is to crack down on what he calls the “censorship cartel” his first day in office.

It’s a winning position among his supporters, many of whom believe the federal government has unfairly targeted lawful speech from right-wing voices.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently echoed this accusation, saying that senior Biden administration officials had pressured his employees to inappropriately “censor” content during the COVID-19 pandemic. 19. Elon Musk, the owner of social platform

Although former Twitter executives admitted they made a mistake in blocking this story just before the 2020 presidential election, they categorically denied that they acted in response to government pressure.

The Supreme Court last year sided with former President Joe Biden’s administration in a dispute with Republican-led states over how far the federal government can go to fight controversial social media posts on topics such as COVID-19 and election security.

Trump’s executive order fails to recognize the seriousness of harmful lies online, which increasingly turn into threats, harassment and targeted violence in the real world. Four years ago, the torrent of Trump himself lies about the 2020 elections guest threats against election officials and resulted in the attack on the US Capitol.

It is not yet clear how this order might affect the work done by several U.S. agencies to track false claims that pose threats to election security, including the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the U.S. Security Agency. cybersecurity and infrastructure security, known as CISA.

CISA, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, has been criticized by Republicans for its efforts to combat disinformation. Trump’s choice to lead DHS, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, said during a Senate confirmation hearing last week that she was ready to slow down the agency’s work if that’s what federal lawmakers want.

Outgoing CISA Director Jen Easterly defended the agency’s workstating that he “does not censor, never has censored”.

Nina Jankowicz, CEO of the American Sunlight Project, said that with this order, Trump is “seeking revenge for an affront that never happened.”

Jankowicz, who led a federal government disinformation governance council under Biden’s Department of Homeland Security which was dissolved after being attacked by conservatives, said the order emboldens foreign actors and others “who use disinformation as a tool to destabilize our country and profit from lies.”

Trump’s order focuses on Americans’ speech. It’s too early to tell how much this will influence how federal agencies communicate with social media companies about false claims originating overseas. A lot disinformation campaigns American adversaries, who have targeted votersare promoted online by American citizens.

Trump has presented himself as a champion of free speech since his first presidency, when he lashed out at the social platform then known as Twitter for posting fact-checking labels on his tweets regarding postal ballots.

At the same time, he frequently attacks the press, calling them “enemies of the people” and has threatened revenge against the news media during his second administration, including suggesting withdrawing the broadcast licenses of some television news channels. .

After having difficult relationships with social media companies in the past, Trump has recently grown closer to the tech billionaires who run the platforms on which Americans communicate with each other.

He gave pride of place during his inauguration to Elon Musk, the owner of X, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta and Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, owner of YouTube. He also took credit for TikTok’s return to the United States and welcomed TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to the Capitol for his swearing-in ceremony.

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