President Donald Trump attacked Twitter and other big tech companies Tuesday, tweeting that big tech has supplanted freedom of the press with “suppression of the story.”
Trump’s tweet was posted as the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hold a hearing with the CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Google. The hearing comes weeks after Twitter and Facebook censored or limited the reach of articles from the New York Post that leveled allegations of corruption against former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, in part, is the portion of law governing internet companies that grants them immunity from being sued for content users post on their sites. (RELATED: ‘Who The Hell Elected You?’ — Ted Cruz Criticizes Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey For Censoring NY Post, Denying The Platform Impacts Elections)
“The USA doesn’t have Freedom of the Press, we have Suppression of the Story, or just plain Fake News. So much has been learned in the last two weeks about how corrupt our Media is, and now Big Tech, maybe even worse. Repeal Section 230!” he said.
The USA doesn’t have Freedom of the Press, we have Suppression of the Story, or just plain Fake News. So much has been learned in the last two weeks about how corrupt our Media is, and now Big Tech, maybe even worse. Repeal Section 230!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 28, 2020
Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz grilled Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on his company’s handling of the New York Post articles. Cruz and Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley have been very critical of Dorsey, arguing Twitter’s moderation policies are biased against conservatives.
Watch: @tedcruz holds @jack’s feet to the fire over Twitter censorship. Ted Cruz owned this.
pic.twitter.com/j8ehoH0JJz— TV News HQ (@TVNewsHQ) October 28, 2020
While repealing Section 230 would take an act of Congress, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai announced earlier in October that he would be releasing new rules to “clarify” the meaning of Section 230 with respect to its effect on content moderation. He has not yet released the specific clarifications.