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23:15 GMT
WASHINGTON, May 28 (KUNA) -- US President Donald Trump signed Thursday an executive order targeting social media companies.
"We're here today to defend free speech from one of the greatest dangers it has faced in American history," Trump said as he signed the executive order at the White House.
"A small handful of powerful social media monopolies controls a vast portion of all public and private communication in the United States. They've had unchecked power to censure, restrict, edit, shape, hide, alter virtually any form of communication between private citizens or large public audiences," he said.
He was lashing out at Twitter which checked two of Trump's tweets this week.
"They're editorial decisions. In those moments, Twitter ceases to be a neutral public platform, they become an editor with a viewpoint. I think we can say that about others also, whether you're looking at Google, whether you're looking at Facebook and perhaps others," he said.
Social media companies have vastly more power and more reach than any phone company in the US.
"Currently, social media giants like Twitter receive an unprecedented liability shield based on the theory that they're a neutral platform, which they're not," said Trump.
He said the executive order called for new regulations under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to make it that social media companies that engage in censoring or any political conduct will not be able to keep their liability shield.
Attorney General William Barr, he said, would wor "cooperatively with the states" to "enforce their own laws against such deceptive business practices.
The Administration will Develop policies to make sure tax dollars don't go to companies that suppress free speech, he said. (end)
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