U.S. President Donald Trump, angered by the first Twitter fact-check alert on one of his tweets, can’t unilaterally regulate or close social media companies, and any effort would likely require action by Congress and be challenged by the courts, experts say. But he could conceivably make life more miserable for Silicon Valley.
U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that he plans to take ‘big action’ after Twitter included a fact-checking link on his tweet about mail-in ballots, and says he will sign an executive order pertaining to social media on Thursday. 2:00
Threatening to shut down Twitter for flagging false content. Claiming he can “override” governors who dare to keep churches closed to congregants. Asserting the “absolute authority” to force states to reopen, even when local leaders say it’s too soon.
As he battles the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. President Donald Trump has been claiming extraordinarily sweeping powers that legal scholars say the president simply doesn’t have. And he has repeatedly refused to spell out the legal basis for those powers.
“It’s not that the president doesn’t have a remarkable amount of power to respond to a public health crisis. It’s that these are not the powers he has,” said Stephen Vladeck, a University of Texas School of Law professor who specializes in constitutional and national security law.
Trump is now on a tear against Twitter after the social media platform, which he uses to speak directly to his more than 80 million followers, slapped fact-check alerts on two of his tweets claiming that mail-in voting is fraudulent.
The president can’t unilaterally regulate or close the companies, and any effort would likely require action by Congress. His administration shelved a proposed executive order empowering the Federal Communications Commission to regulate technology companies, citing concerns it wouldn’t pass legal muster.
Tech giants “silence conservative voices,” Trump claimed on Twitter early Wednesday. “We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen.”
This will be a Big Day for Social Media and FAIRNESS!
Conservatives may want to see Twitter legally liable
White House strategic communications director Alyssa Farah said Trump would sign an executive order related to social media companies on Thursday.
The call to expand regulation appears to fly in the face of long-held conservative principles on deregulation, but Trump and his allies 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.
Trump uses Twitter to push out lies and conspiracy theories.
His tweets put people in danger and undermine our democracy.
Fact checking his tweets is the least they can do.
The presiden