President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Thursday aimed at major social media companies after Twitter applied a fact-check on one of his tweets, according to Reuters.
Spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany announced the news on Air Force One, traveling with Trump to Washington from Florida, Reuters reported Wednesday.
“[White House] press secretary told reporters on Air Force One Trump plans to sign an executive order aimed at social media companies,” CNN White House Correspondent Jim Acosta said in a tweet.
On the flight back from Florida, WH press secretary told reporters on Air Force One Trump plans to sign an executive order aimed at social media companies. WH says the exec order will be signed Thursday.
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) May 27, 2020
Trump has a long-history of lashing out at Silicon Valley companies for supposedly discriminating against conservatives.
News of an executive order came as Republican lawmakers began work on legislation Wednesday to strip Twitter of protections internet companies receive from liability of publishing false information.(RELATED: Twitter Dings Trump’s Tweets But Refuses To Fact Check Chinese Officials’ Virus Misinformation)
The announcement of potential executive order also comes a day after Twitter labeled as misinformation Trump’s tweet haranguing California’s mail-in ballots.
The company’s move came after pundits criticized Twitter for not doing enough to push back against what many critics believe to be misinformation. Twitter’s fact check states: “Get the facts about mail-in ballots,” and redirects users to articles about Trump’s claim that California’s move to offer mail-in ballots to citizens is illegal.
The tweets “contain potentially misleading information about voting processes and have been labeled to provide additional context around mail-in ballots,” Twitter spokeswoman Katie Rosborough told The Washington Post Tuesday regarding the decision.
Twitter’s fact check states in part that “Trump falsely claimed that mail-in ballots would lead to ‘a Rigged Election.’ However, fact-checkers say there is no evidence that mail-in ballots are linked to voter fraud.”
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