The draft order targets a law known as the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 of the legislation provides broad immunity to websites that curate and moderate their own platforms, and has been described by legal experts as "the 26 words that created the internet."
It argues that the protections hinge mainly on tech platforms operating in "good faith," and that social media companies have not.
"In a country that has long cherished the freedom of expression, we cannot allow a limited number of online platforms to hand-pick the speech that Americans may access and convey online," the draft order says. "This practice is fundamentally un-American and anti-democratic. When large, powerful social media companies censor opinions with which they disagree, they exercise a dangerous power."
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Translation: While Trump's actual target is Twitter and other media portals, as it concerns Volnation, it would appear that if Trump were successful in gutting the Communications Decency Act. Section 230, it could effectively prevent Moderators, Freak and/or Volnation (as an entity) from censoring posters here. Under the order, the Commerce Department would ask the Federal Communications Commission for new regulations clarifying when a company's conduct might violate the good faith provisions of Section 230 -- potentially making it easier for tech companies (e.g. Volnation) to be sued.
A draft of the order also reportedly includes a directive for the White House Office of Digital Strategy to recreate a tool that gives Americans the opportunity to report alleged instances of censorship online. The so-called White House Tech Bias Reporting Tool would receive those complaints and submit them to the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC would then be required to consider taking action and examine whether the complaints violated the law. The attorney general would also be directed to create a working group that assesses content moderation practices from social media companies.
What this could mean: As an example, while I'm not advocating it, it is not against the law to swear in public. If Trump has his way, I and other users would have our FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS to swear on here as we see fit. If Volnation and its moderators were to remove or change our posts, we could file a complaint with the FCC that Volnation is committing a crime by violating our First Amendment right to free speech. Volnation would NOT have any legal shield preventing such action. Further, Volnation would likely (eventually) be FORCED to allow people to post any damn thing they want here as long as said post didn't violate the letter of the law.
Is this really the future of social platforms that we want here folks? Make no mistake, Trump's target is Twitter because it recently tagged two of his tweets as containing inaccuracies, but changing the CDA laws would most certainly affect you and me personally here on VN.
