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posted by janrinok on Wednesday August 14 2019, @04:35PM   Printer-friendly
from the what-were-you-saying-about-Free-Speech? dept.

Leaked Draft of Trump Executive Order to 'Censor the Internet' Denounced as Dangerous, Unconstitutional Edict

It would give these bureaucratic government agencies unprecedented control over how Internet platforms moderate speech by allowing them to revoke the essential protections Congress laid out in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA). CDA 230 is the basic law that makes it possible for online platforms to let users post our own content, and to make basic decisions about what types of content they as private entities want to host. Every meme, every social media post, every blog and user-created video on the Internet has been made possible by this crucial free speech protection.

In practice, this executive order would mean that whichever political party is in power could dictate what speech is allowed on the Internet. If the government doesn't like the way a private company is moderating content, they can shut their entire website down.

From https://www.salon.com/2019/08/12/leaked-draft-of-trump-executive-order-deemed-unconstitutional_partner/ we get the following:

According to CNN, which obtained a copy of the draft, the new rule "calls for the FCC to develop new regulations clarifying how and when the law protects social media websites when they decide to remove or suppress content on their platforms. Although still in its early stages and subject to change, the Trump administration's draft order also calls for the Federal Trade Commission to take those new policies into account when it investigates or files lawsuits against misbehaving companies."

While Politico was the first to report how the draft was being circulated by the White House, CNN notes that if put into effect, "the order would reflect a significant escalation by President Trump in his frequent attacks against social media companies over an alleged but unproven systemic bias against conservatives by technology platforms. And it could lead to a significant reinterpretation of a law that, its authors have insisted, was meant to give tech companies broad freedom to handle content as they see fit."

"[...] It's hard to put into words how mind bogglingly absurd this executive order is," said Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight for the Future, in a tweet. "In the name of defending free speech it would allow mass government censorship of online content. In practice, it means whichever party is in power can decide what speech is allowed on the internet."

This authoritarian legislation is being pushed by claiming it will do the opposite of censorship by giving the federal government even more broad power. Reminds me of the following quote, "I like taking guns away early," Trump said. "Take the guns first, go through due process second."

See also:


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  • (Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 14 2019, @05:04PM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 14 2019, @05:04PM (#880342)

    Fair enough, but given the Trump admin's record I would err on the side of it being true. This isn't some bombshell, just another torpedo with a smile painted on its face.

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 14 2019, @05:21PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 14 2019, @05:21PM (#880362)

    Yes, that is how fake news works... People believe in it because it reaffirms what they "already know".

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 14 2019, @06:29PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 14 2019, @06:29PM (#880425)

      "already know" as in the actual things Trump & Co. have done for realsies? This would be a footnote in the list of terrible shit, so yes what I said is totally fine. Default to true since it isn't nearly as bad as all the other things that have really happened.

      Yes fake news exploits human psychology, but there is no way to stop that. Each person must evaluate a situation and react accordingly. Anonymous sources are important, I say we hold off on the convictions till we get a good investigation but no way am I going to assume this is fake news just because the source was not identified.

      I exercised my judgment, compared this possibly real story to the verified past actions and deemed it "likely true". I could be wrong, but I think my assessment is more reliable than "haha came from CNN #FakeNews". Hell, even Fox occasionally speaks the truth although poor Shep gets so much shit for being a decent human being.

      • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 14 2019, @06:49PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 14 2019, @06:49PM (#880445)

        Trump's worst offense is FASAB 56 under his watch, Obama's was NDAA 2013. You have no idea what either of those are because the fake news doesn't talk about it.

        • (Score: 4, Informative) by HiThere on Wednesday August 14 2019, @09:40PM

          by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday August 14 2019, @09:40PM (#880546) Journal

          NDAA 2013 was quite a bad law, but it was passed by congress before being signed by Obama.
          FASAB 56 appears to be totally under the executive branch.

          It's legitimate to say whose watch they happened on, but the culpability is not even.

          --
          Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
    • (Score: 2) by ilPapa on Wednesday August 14 2019, @06:43PM (1 child)

      by ilPapa (2366) on Wednesday August 14 2019, @06:43PM (#880439) Journal

      It's not just being reported at CNN, though.

      But good try.

      --
      You are still welcome on my lawn.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 14 2019, @06:51PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 14 2019, @06:51PM (#880447)

        And what was the source for the others? CNN? How gullible are can you be?