Facebook Slams Trump's Executive Order, Claims It Will 'Restrict More Speech' Online

Social media giant Facebook criticized President Trump’s recent executive order aiming to place new restrictions on social media giants that censor Americans, claiming that the order will “restrict more speech online.”

Endgadget reports that social media giant Facebook has taken issue with President Donald Trump’s recent executive order that aims to place new restrictions on social media firms relating to free speech. The social network stated that attempts to limit Section 230 of the Communications DecencyAct, which protects social media platforms from being treated as a publisher rather than a platform, would lead to further censorship.

Facebook said in a statement:

Facebook is a platform for diverse views. We believe in protecting freedom of expression on our services, while protecting our community from harmful content including content designed to stop voters from exercising their right to vote. Those rules apply to everybody. Repealing or limiting section 230 will have the opposite effect. It will restrict more speech online, not less. By exposing companies to potential liability for everything that billions of people around the world say, this would penalize companies that choose to allow controversial speech and encourage platforms to censor anything that might offend anyone.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated before the order was signed that he didn’t believe it was the “right reflex” to combat censorship with more restrictions. “In general, I think a government choosing to censor a platform because they’re worried about censorship doesn’t exactly strike me as the right reflex there,” he said.

Twitter has also criticized the move, calling it  “reactionary and politicized,” stating that “Section 230 protects American innovation and freedom of expression, and it’s underpinned by democratic values.” The company added: “Attempts to unilaterally erode it threaten the future of online speech and Internet freedoms.”

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey also defended the firm’s decision to fact-check President Trump’s tweets saying: “We’ll continue to point out incorrect or disputed information about elections globally.” Dorsey added: Our intention is to connect the dots of conflicting statements and show the information in dispute so people can judge for themselves.”

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com