US President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Thursday seeking to strip major social media outlets such as Twitter from the legal immunity they enjoy in relation to content and publishing.
According to Trump, such platforms have "unlimited virtual influence to impose censorship and restrictions on (...) any form of communication between ordinary citizens."
"We cannot let that happen, especially when they start doing what they do, because they do things incorrectly," he said.
And if this law is activated, sites like "Twitter" and "Facebook" will become subject to legal accountability and to more government restrictions.
Trump, who angered him this week and branded one of his tweets as unreliable, said there was a need for regulation because these companies were no longer neutral forums but rather engaged in "political activities".
Trump said he directed Justice Secretary William Barr to work with the states to enforce their own laws against what he described as the misleading activity of social media companies.
In a statement to reporters at the White House, Trump added that an executive order against these companies would remove the immunity from the responsibility they currently enjoy, accusing them of editorial bias.
The decision comes after Trump's attack on Twitter after the site on Tuesday added for the first time a notification, in the form of a blue exclamation mark, to Trump's tweets about allegations not supported by fraud in a mail poll.
The notice alerts readers to the necessity of checking publications, adding to them the phrase "verify the facts."