The decree trump: what will happen with social networks

After a quarrel with the Twitter platform, positivley publish it as “invalid”, the US President, Donald trump has signed a decree on the regulation of social networks. According to the document, the platform engaged in political censorship, are stripped of their immunity and can be closed. The Twitter called the decree a policy of “reactionary and politicized”, and lawyers say that the decision of trump violates the First amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The US President Donald trump has signed a decree, which threatened the social networks and holding companies severe sanctions if they are seen to be manifestation of political censorship, according to Business Insider.

“Today, we protect freedom of speech from one of the greatest dangers,” said trump at a meeting with reporters before signing the document.

This decision was taken by the American President two days after his conflict with Twitter — moderators of the platform has flagged two posts as “invalid”. They were talking about voting through the mail because of the pandemic coronavirus — Donald trump argued that such elections cannot be considered fair, since voting by mail easy to falsify.

These posts of the President was marked with a special sign that directs the user to a separate page — it States that no evidence of threats to the elections, with voting via mail no. Moreover, these publications have remained in Twitter — from other posts they are distinguished by a special mark.

These measures from the platform angered Donald trump, which led to the emergence of a new decree. According to the President, before the advent of the document the social network “could do whatever he wanted.”

“Social networks, like Twitter, had unprecedented protection from liability based on the theory that they are a neutral platform. Executive decree aims to implement the new regulation on the basis of Section 230 of the Law on ethics in the field of communications. The social network implicated in censorship or political action will no longer have protection from liability”, — said the President.

Section 230 of the above law gives the social networks broad powers in the field of moderation of content on their platforms. In addition, according to him, IT companies are not responsible for the comments and other content that users publish.

If the new decree trump will enter into force, the social network will lose its integrity if you take any action deemed discriminatory against users.

In addition, the document States that the Federal trade Commission (FTC), the U.S. is obliged to monitor compliance with techcompanies ban on participation in any “deceptive or dishonest practices.”

“When large, powerful social media company censor views with which they disagree, it gives them dangerous power. They lose their value as a passive forums for communication and should be treated as content creators,” follows from the decree of the President.

The document separately allocated platform Twitter that “now selectively distributing warning labels to some publications in a manner that objectively expresses a political bias”.

It is noted that previously no single tweet politicians on the platform was not marked by such a sign, in addition to reports of Donald trump.

The management of the company Twitter called “reactionary and politicized” decree of the President of the United States. As follows from the official statement, Section 230 of the US Law on ethics in communications “protects American innovation and freedom of expression”. It is noted that trump’s attempts to unilaterally establish a new regulation threatens freedom of speech on the Internet.

The President trump said that if certain conditions permit the closure of the company Twitter.

“I could close it as far as I know,” said trump, adding that he would consult with lawyers.

Despite the resolve of Donald trump, experts in the field of regulation of the IT industry arguethat the decree did not take effect. According to them, the First amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits the President’s close social network, if he does not agree with their policies.

“The Constitution doesn’t work. The first amendment protects Twitter against trump. But it does not protect trump from Twitter,” said Business Insider the Director of a nonprofit TechFreedom Ashkhen Ghazaryan.

In addition, several lawyers told the portal that some parts of the decree of the President contradict the legislation of the country, and therefore can be easily challenged in court.

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