The president of the US has long asserted that social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have been exhibiting bias against conservative voices, and his…
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act has often been called the “legal backbone” of the web. In just 26 words it is said to have “created the Internet” in the form that we know it today.
This week, Donald Trump signed an executive order determined to change this section for the sake of “free speech”. This happened shortly after Twitter effectively flagged two of Trump’s tweets for potential misinformation in relation to mail-in-ballots voting.
As he signed the order, the president referred to Twitter’s actions as “editorial decisions”, effectively highlighting the service’s “publishing” role.
Many have criticised the president’s move, fearing that social media companies can now be open to regulations and fines from federal authorities for censoring content.
