So reports Politico (Cristiano Lima), among other out
President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order aimed at social media companies on Thursday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters Wednesday evening, a move that comes as the president and his allies have escalated their allegations that companies like Twitter and Facebook stifle GOP voices.
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. 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.
But the President of course has no power to revise statutes such as 47 U.S.C. § 230 by executive order. He can order his subordinates in the federal Executive Branch to apply laws in various ways, but § 230 is enforced in judicial proceedings (state and federal), not by federal prosecutors or other Executive Branch employees. Whether § 230 should be revised is an interesting question (I’m inclined to say that it’s on balance better than the alternatives), but it takes Congress to revise the work of a past Congress.
Now of course the President can talk about § 230, and can urge Congress to revise it; perhaps that’s all the “executive order” will say. But one doesn’t need an executive order for that.
Finally, the President could, I suppose, control how Executive Branch agencies use social media platforms, and an executive order would be a suitable too for that. But that would seem an odd things for him to do. I suppose we’ll learn tomorrow just what he has planned, but I am mystified.
Founded in 1968, Reason is the magazine of free minds and free markets. We produce hard-hitting independent journalism on civil liberties, politics, technology, culture, policy, and commerce. Reason exists outside of the left/right echo chamber. Our goal is to deliver fresh, unbiased information and insights to our readers, viewers, and listeners every day. Visit https://reason.com