Presidential networks: how Trump intends to regulate the work of social online platforms

Donald Trump called on the US Congress to repeal Section 230 of the Decency in Communications Media Act, which exempts major technology companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Google from liability for the content of messages posted on their platforms.

“Congress should repeal Article 230 (of the law“ On the observance of decency in the means of communication. ” - RT ),” wrote the head of the White House on his Twitter page.

Twitter is doing nothing about all of the lies & propaganda being put out by China or the Radical Left Democrat Party. They have targeted Republicans, Conservatives & the President of the United States. Section 230 should be revoked by Congress. Until then, it will be regulated!

Trump made this statement after the scandal between the head of the White House and representatives of the social network Twitter. The American leader accused the platform of moderating its tweets as unreliable for political reasons. In particular, one of Trump's posts got the corresponding mark, in which he spoke about the inevitability of rigging by voting by mail during the presidential election in the United States. It is worth noting that the US Democratic Party insists on the remote format of the election process. 

Explaining the need to repeal Section 230 of the Decency in Communications Means Act, the American leader said Twitter attacks Republicans, Conservatives, and the US President, but “takes no action on the lies and propaganda spread by China and the left-wing radicals of the Democratic Party ".

In turn, representatives of Twitter insist that Trump’s statement regarding the voting by mail is “false”, and refer to CNN and The Washington Post materials as an explanation of their actions. 

However, on the eve of the President of the United States signed a decree on the suppression of online censorship.

“When large and influential social media companies censor opinions with which they disagree, they use dangerous power. They cease to be passive platforms for the dissemination of information, and they should be considered creators of content, which means that they should be treated accordingly, ”the decree says.

The document emphasizes that one should not allow “a limited circle of online platforms to choose which statements can be made available to Americans and distributed on the Internet.”

“In accordance with the approach chosen by the United States, such a service provider must appropriately lose the status of a limited liability person specified in subparagraph (c) (2) (A) (Section 230 of the Decency in Communications Means Act. - RT ) , and potentially bear the same responsibility as any other person editing and publishing materials in the traditional way (not online), ”the decree says.

• Twitter and Facebook Mobile Application Icons
• Reuters
• © Kai Pfaffenbach

Moreover, the issue of Twitter is considered in the document separately. It is indicated, in particular, that the social network "is now selectively making decisions about labeling certain tweets in a way that clearly reflects political bias."

“As already reported, Twitter, it seems, has never put such marks (on false information. - RT ) on the publications of another politician (except Donald Trump.  - RT ). As recently as last week, Rep. Adam Schiff continued to mislead his subscribers by circulating long-exposed fabrications of a conspiracy with Russia, and Twitter left his posts without such marks, ”the document says.

The head of the White House instructed the Attorney General to create a working group "on ensuring compliance with state regulations prohibiting online platforms from resorting to dishonest or fraudulent acts or practices."

Moreover, Trump instructed the US Department of Justice to “consider the restrictions on freedom of speech that are introduced by virtue of the position taken” by online platforms. The purpose of this measure is to determine whether “posting government statements on any online platform is problematic due to discrimination based on (political. - RT ) views, misleading users, or other inappropriate practices.”

The American leader also ordered that the heads of all executive bodies and departments analyze "the costs of federal funds that they paid to online platforms for advertising and promotion."

The largest IT corporations - Google, Twitter and Facebook - have already opposed the decree of the head of the White House on the suppression of online censorship. Companies fear that US Presidential measures could lead to restrictions on freedom on the Internet.

Responsiveness

However, marking his statements on Twitter as unreliable, the head of the White House ranked him as trying to thwart his campaign. The American leader directly accused the social network of "interfering in the 2020 presidential election."

. @ Twitter is now interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election. They are saying my statement on Mail-In Ballots, which will lead to massive corruption and fraud, is incorrect, based on fact-checking by Fake News CNN and the Amazon Washington Post ....

According to political analyst Alexander Asafov, the head of the White House was not accidentally concerned about the politicization of social networks. He wants to use this topic to achieve his own goals, the analyst said.

“Trump was elected, inter alia, thanks to a carefully campaigned advertising campaign on social networks and the active use of his personal microblog on Twitter. Now, when the 2020 presidential election is at hand, the head of the White House realizes that he still needs such tools. However, the Democrats - the opponents of the American leader - have already drawn the appropriate conclusions and, to some extent, influenced these platforms. Now, Trump wants to minimize the politicization of social networks in order to once again secure his election victory, ”the expert said in a conversation with RT.

• The official residence of the US President
• Reuters
• © Eric Thayer

A similar opinion is shared by the dean of the faculty of world politics at Moscow State University Andrei Sidorov. According to him, Trump believes that many media outlets, including social networks, “play along with the Democrats.”

“And in this the head of the White House is by and large right. Trump is an impulsive person, and his actions now are including a reaction to the scandalous story on Twitter. Now it’s important for the American leader to prove to everyone that he controls the situation even on social networks, ”the expert explained in an interview with RT.

“Fundamentally nothing will change”

It is worth noting that Trump’s proposal to cancel article 230 of the law “On the observance of decency in the means of communication,” as well as the decree on the suppression of online censorship, are not the first attempts by the American authorities to begin regulating the activities of social networks.

In February, US Attorney General William Barr called for greater responsibility for IT content for IT companies. He stated this during an open meeting organized by the US Department of Justice and dedicated to considering the further fate of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

“Technology companies are no longer outsiders, but titans. Due to changes in the technological sphere, legitimate questions were raised about whether there is a need for the extensive immunity provided for in Article 230, at least in its current form, ”said Barr.

At the same time, experts emphasize that social networks often block the content of ordinary users, pursuing, among other things, political goals. As an example, they cited the recent blocking by the YouTube platform of the accounts of the Crimean television channel “Crimea 24”, of the Russian-language news agencies Anna News and News-Front. Analysts also recalled that for some time the interview with RT with the head doctor of the hospital in Kommunarka Denis Protsenko was deleted, which YouTube later called a “mistake”.

The Facebook social network has also repeatedly blocked “objectionable” groups and pages. At the same time, in September 2019, the company announced that it was a private publisher, which was entitled to publish and block information at its discretion. Such an argument was put forward in response to the lawsuit of journalist Laura Lumer, whose account the social network blocked, calling the girl a “dangerous person” because of her right-wing political views. Lumer, in turn, accused the company of trying to limit its right to freedom of speech.

A month later, the social network once again blocked a group supporting Donald Trump and the US police. The Police Lives Matter community page had 170,000 followers. Then, Facebook said that the group allegedly violated the rules for combating spam and fake accounts.

However, as Alexander Asafov predicts, after Trump’s call to repeal Article 230 of the law and publish its decree for ordinary citizens, “nothing will change fundamentally.” Although the election campaign of Trump himself will be more protected from the actions of moderators of social networks.

“In the global sense, censorship, including political censorship, will continue on online platforms,” the analyst said.

Doubt about the effectiveness of the steps taken by trump and Andrei Sidorov.

“To monitor social networks for the politicization of the actions of moderators, we need a whole apparatus. However, he will not be able to fully cope with the enormous volumes of information, ”said the expert.

• Symbols of Twitter and Facebook
• Reuters
• © Jon Nazca

At the same time, Asafov believes that the speeches of the IT corporations Google, Twitter and Facebook against the decree of Trump are “formally decorative.”

“Most likely, before the adoption of the relevant document, direct negotiations were held between the presidential administration and the leadership of social networks, as a result of which a certain agreement was reached,” the expert suggested.

However, the outrage of the Democrats by such actions of the head of the White House will also lead to nothing, although they will continue to charge Trump, Asafov said.

“This time around, claims that the American leader is using political pressure on online platforms will be used. However, the head of the White House will not pay attention to this. And the whole flurry of discontent will drown in the media stream as well as other similar accusations of representatives of the Democratic Party, ”the analyst said.