Donald Trump issued a promise to Americans last week, declaring if he returned to the Oval Office one of his top presidential priorities would be the elimination of Big Tech’s grotesque collusion with the federal government.
“Within hours of my inauguration, I will sign an executive order banning any federal department or agency from colluding with any organization, business, or person to censor, limit, categorize, or impede the lawful speech of American citizens,” the both former and aspiring president stated.
“I will then ban federal money from being used to label domestic speech as “mis” or disinformation,” he continued. “And I will begin the process of identifying and firing every federal bureaucrat who has engaged in domestic censorship, directly or indirectly, whether they are the Department of Homeland security, the Department of Health and Human Services, the FBI, or the DOJ — no matter who they are.”
And he didn’t stop there. Trump went after the unholy alliance between so-called non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and academic institutions that receive millions of taxpayer dollars and vowed to cut them off from the federal gravy train.
However, he kept hammering the point that Big Tech’s dominance in the social and cultural sphere was of utmost importance. Should he return to the White House, not only would he target the relationship between feds and tech companies, but he’d go after Section 230 as well.
Section 230 is a regulatory law that was supposed to offer protections and delineations for companies that are either publications or forums, b ut which has been bastardized by Big Tech to claim the status of both depending on their political needs.
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“Upon my inauguration as President, I will ask Congress to send a bill to my desk revising Section 230 to get big online platforms out of censorship business,” Trump said. “From now on, digital platforms should only qualify for immunity protection under Section 230 if they meet high standards of neutrality, transparency, fairness, and nondiscrimination.”
Trump also promised an internet bill of rights.
“The time has finally come for Congress to pass a digital bill of rights. This should include a right to digital due process. In other words, government officials should need a court order to take down online content, not send information requests such as the FBI was sending to Twitter,” he said.
And he wasn’t finished. Trump further laid out his platform vision for protecting the rights of users operating within social media and on the internet.
“Furthermore, when users of big online platforms have their content or accounts removed, throttled, shadowbanned, or otherwise restricted no matter what name they use, they should have the right to be informed that it’s happening, the right to a specific explanation of the reason why, and the right to a timely appeal. In addition, all users over the age of 18 should have the right to opt out of content moderation and curation entirely and receive an unmanipulated stream of information if they so choose,” he added.
DC Enquirer summed up the mood of many people upon hearing this declaration.
These are precisely the sort of changes America needs right now. We ought to be able to speak our minds freely without fear of censorship or shadow banning. Fortunately for America, Donald Trump knows these truths better than anyone around.
Featured image: Screen shot from embedded Rumble video.