On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that could repeal or weaken the law protecting social media websites when Twitter warned readers to verify the claims after flagging one of their tweets.
The order calls on government regulators to review whether online platforms should be liable for liability protection for content posted by millions of users.
If implemented, the action would set the precedent for decades and the Internet would potentially be treated as "publishers" for user-generated content on Internet platforms.
Trump told reporters at the White House that he did so because big tech companies have the power to censor, ban, edit, format, disguise, change, in any kind of conversation between private citizens or a large public audience. 'We can't let that happen,' Trump said.
The move comes a day after Twitter tagged two of his tweets on the controversial top of Mail in Voting, as misleading.
'In these moments Twitter ceases to be a neutral public platform and they become editors with a vision.'
'And I think we can say the same thing about others, whether you're looking at Google, whether you're looking at Facebook, maybe others.'
Critics say, however, that Trump does not have the authority to regulate private Internet operators or change a law known as Section 230, which supporters say would allow online platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to held accountable to the government for what rules they enforce on their own platforms.
The American Civil Liberties Union called Trump's order 'an unfeeling and unlawful danger to penalize social media platforms that detest the president.'
Eric Goldman, director of the Institute of High Tech Law at the University of Santa Clara, said the ruling was 'more about political theater than a change of law.'
Goldman said the order was 'not legally binding it is being blown up despite more than 900 court rulings.'
The White House wants to overturn the provision to exempt Internet public companies by treating them as publishers that operate as a public utility
Trump's new executive order says that 'Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube have unparalleled, if not indeed, the power to shape the interpretation of public events. We don't see that we can control it.'
While Trump's ruling will not stop moderation of content on the platforms, it could lead to a flood of lawsuits by anyone who claims to have harmed the content published online.
Critics say the move represents a dangerous attempt by the government to regulate online speech.
'Social media can be frustrating,' said Jessica Rosen Versal, a Democratic member of the Federal Communications Commission, one of the agencies responsible for enforcing the executive order. 'But an executive order that would turn the FCC's into the presidents personnel speech police is not the answer.'
'retaliation against the private sector for fact-checking leadership is what we expect from foreign autocracies, not from the United States.' said Matt Schroeders President of the Computer and Communications Industry Association.
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