U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to prevent government censorship and prohibit pressuring social media to remove content.
The measure should hinder attempts to address the spread of false information on the internet. As per the ruling, federal government officials are prohibited from engaging in any behavior that unconstitutionally violates the free speech rights of American citizens.
The Republican called for an investigation to address any potential violations of the constitutional right to freedom of expression within the Biden administration on the first day of term.
The measure states that the previous government in the past four years severely restricted freedom of expression by pressuring companies like social media platforms to control or eliminate speech disapproved by the federal government.
Trump prohibited the use of public funds for any actions that restrict Americans’ freedom of speech, accusing Biden’s administration of violating citizens’ constitutional rights to voice their opinions on important public matters.
Aligned with social media platform owners
The opening event on Monday was attended by prominent Big Tech owners like Mark Zuckerberg (Meta CEO), Jeff Bezos (Amazon founder), Sundar Pichai (Google CEO), and Elon Musk (X owner), reflecting their support for the use of social media.
Zuckerberg revealed the discontinuation of the fact-checking initiative on Meta’s social media platforms and pledged to collaborate with the incoming president to counter global government efforts targeting American firms and advocating for increased censorship.
The European Union and the United Kingdom have implemented regulations that hold social media platforms and big tech firms accountable for the content they publish. Zuckerberg disapproved of the measures being taken in Europe, calling them a form of censorship that hinders innovation.
Republican perspective
The Conservatives had long been unhappy with social media platforms for censoring their content, with Trump’s removal from Twitter and Facebook following the Capitol attacks on January 6, 2021 being a prominent example.
Republicans argue that the Biden administration’s actions led Big Tech companies to remove vaccine misinformation during the Covid-19 pandemic, suggesting government interference in Americans’ freedom of expression.