President Donald Trump will reportedly sign an executive order on Thursday pertaining to social media companies, according to White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany.
“McEnany told reporters aboard Air Force One that the order is ‘pertaining to social media’ but shared no additional details on what it will do,” Politico reported. “But the announcement revived fears within the online industry that the Trump administration will target a 24-year-old statute that protects the companies from lawsuits — an avenue that a growing number of Republican lawmakers have advocated in their bias allegations about Silicon Valley.”
Shortly after news broke that Trump would sign an executive order, the president tweeted: “Big Tech is doing everything in their very considerable power to CENSOR in advance of the 2020 Election. If that happens, we no longer have our freedom. I will never let it happen! They tried hard in 2016, and lost. Now they are going absolutely CRAZY. Stay Tuned!!!”
Big Tech is doing everything in their very considerable power to CENSOR in advance of the 2020 Election. If that happens, we no longer have our freedom. I will never let it happen! They tried hard in 2016, and lost. Now they are going absolutely CRAZY. Stay Tuned!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2020
The news comes after Twitter labeled a tweet from Trump yesterday with a fact-check after Trump warned that mail-in voting was susceptible to voter fraud. Shortly after Twitter applied a fact-check label to Trump’s tweet, the Department of Justice charged a man in West Virginia for allegedly altering mail-in ballots.
Earlier in the day, Trump tweeted: “Twitter has now shown that everything we have been saying about them (and their other compatriots) is correct. Big action to follow!”
Twitter has now shown that everything we have been saying about them (and their other compatriots) is correct. Big action to follow!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2020
That tweet from Trump came after numerous reports surfaced that showed Twitter’s “Head of Site Integrity,” Yoel Roth, having a strong anti-Trump and anti-Republican bias.
Fox News’ Gregg Re reported:
Roth has previously referred to Trump and his team as “ACTUAL NAZIS,” mocked Trump supporters by saying that “we fly over those states that voted for a racist tangerine for a reason,” and called Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., a “personality-free bag of farts.” Last August, Twitter suspended McConnell’s Twitter account, prompting the GOP to threaten to cut off advertising on the site until Twitter relented.
In September 2016, Roth tweeted, “I’ve never donated to a presidential campaign before, but I just gave $100 to Hillary for America. We can’t fu-k around anymore.”
When Trump won the November 2016 election, Roth dejectedly chalked the development up to “[Bernie] Sanders protest voters, and racism,” before sounding more optimistic notes.
“I’m almost ready to stop dwelling on how my friends are complicit in the election of Donald Trump,” he said on Jan. 7, 2017. “Almost.”
“Massive anti-Trump protest headed up Valencia St,” Roth wrote on Jan. 20, 2017, followed by a “heart” emoji and the words “San Francisco.”
Trump tweeted out a video from Fox Business that covered the tweets from Roth. Twitter told Fox News that it was “unfortunate” that Roth was being “targeted” for his apparent bias.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2020
Trump issued a stern warning to social media companies early Wednesday morning, writing, “Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices. We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen. We saw what they attempted to do, and failed, in 2016. We can’t let a more sophisticated version of that happen again.”
“Just like we can’t let large scale Mail-In Ballots take root in our Country,” Trump continued. “It would be a free for all on cheating, forgery and the theft of Ballots. Whoever cheated the most would win. Likewise, Social Media. Clean up your act, NOW!!!!”
….happen again. Just like we can’t let large scale Mail-In Ballots take root in our Country. It would be a free for all on cheating, forgery and the theft of Ballots. Whoever cheated the most would win. Likewise, Social Media. Clean up your act, NOW!!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2020
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