Trump Signs Executive Order Targeting Protections for Social Media Companies Amid Escalating War With Twitter

[TempestCatto]

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President Donald Trump escalated his war on social media companies, signing an executive order Thursday challenging the liability protections that have served as a bedrock for unfettered speech on the internet.

I hope we can still flame war without the fedbois knocking at our doors.

 

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Trump and his allies, who rely heavily on Twitter to verbally flog their foes, have long accused the tech giants in liberal-leaning Silicon Valley of targeting conservatives on social media by fact-checking them or removing their posts.

Well, I have seen it happen to both.

 

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Companies like Twitter and Facebook are granted liability protection under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act because they are treated as “platforms,” rather than “publishers,” which can face lawsuits over content.

Kinda like I can yell in a park that Linus Tech Tips is the second best YT channel, and no one can silence me even though I'm spouting nonsense.

 

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On the other hand, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told Fox News his platform has “a different policy, I think, than Twitter on this.” “I just believe strongly that Facebook shouldn’t be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online,” he said.

To be fair, I don't trust either platform for news so...

 

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Last month, Twitter began a “Get the Facts” label to direct social media users to news articles from trusted outlets next to tweets containing misleading or disputed information about the virus. Company leaders said the new labels could be applied to anyone on Twitter and they were considering using them on other topics.

Similar to what Facebook does. It's actually a good thing, because people love to spread misinformation like wildfire.

 

Politics aside, I'm not sure how I feel about all this. I guess I'll leave it up to the tech/enthusiast communities, along with the general public, to determine that.

 

 

Sauce: https://time.com/5844289/trump-social-media-executive-order/

 

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[Vishera]

RIP freedom of speech,hello propaganda.

[The Flying Sloth]

inb4 thread locked for political content.

[Techstorm970]

According to the article, all the executive order does is ask the FCC to tighten regulations on social media platforms.  It is unclear what that would entail.  It's like the Green New Deal; it technically means nothing because it doesn't do anything on its own.

 

I'm already watching this thread devolve.  Very tech-related topic, but this thread will probably go down in flames...

[Blademaster91]

You shouldn't be going to Twitter or Facebook for news, however holding these platforms liable for censorship might be a good thing, or else they should be held accountable as publishers.

But IMO this is more politics than tech news.

[Techstorm970]

Just now, Blademaster91 said:

You shouldn't be going to Twitter or Facebook for news, however holding these platforms liable for censorship might be a good thing, or else they should be held accountable as publishers.

But IMO this is more politics than tech news.

Yeah.  Facebook and Twitter and other internet-centric corporations have way too much power right now.  Some regulation should have been done a long time ago, arguably.

[Beerzerker]

6 minutes ago, The Flying Sloth said:

inb4 thread locked for political content.

I agree - This won't go far before the inevitable flame-fest begins.
 

[Zodiark1593]

22 minutes ago, Techstorm970 said:

According to the article, all the executive order does is ask the FCC to tighten regulations on social media platforms.  It is unclear what that would entail.  It's like the Green New Deal; it technically means nothing because it doesn't do anything on its own.

 

I'm already watching this thread devolve.  Very tech-related topic, but this thread will probably go down in flames...

Kind of unfortunate. At worst, I’d like to see it moved to Off Topic rather than deleted/locked, as I’d like to see some actual opinions here. I don’t use personally identifiable social media myself, so I don’t really have much to work with in regards to forming an opinion. 

[Morgan MLGman]

38 minutes ago, Zodiark1593 said:

Kind of unfortunate. At worst, I’d like to see it moved to Off Topic rather than deleted/locked, as I’d like to see some actual opinions here. I don’t use personally identifiable social media myself, so I don’t really have much to work with in regards to forming an opinion. 

Yup, impossible to keep threads like this alive for long from our (the Mod team) standpoint.

Nevertheless, you want a honest opinion? Twitter "fact-checks" a tweet from the President of the United States which from my understanding was more opinion than a fact to be "checked", but they don't put fact-checking disclaimers on some chinese officials spewing lies about Covid-19 virus coming from US Army on their own website..
IMO even Trump has the right to say whatever he thinks, even if all other people on our entire planet disagree with him.

As a cherry on top, Twitter used CNN and Washington Post as "sources" for the fact-check. Laughable.

Tech giants should not censor people, because there are teams of people who decide who gets censored and who doesn't - how do we know those people have pure intentions and are qualified for that job, if we don't even know who exactly makes those decisions.

Note that this is an opinion, not a fact so no fact-checking here!

[leadeater]

13 minutes ago, Morgan MLGman said:

Note that this is an opinion, not a fact so no fact-checking here!

*PA* Fact check on aisle 4 please, fact check on aisle 4. *PA*

[SansVarnic]

-= Locked =-

 

As was with the previously posted topic on this subject.

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Due to the heavy political influence on this topic it will remain locked to prevent a flame war / political discussion.