On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning federal restrictions on Americans' free speech, a move that intensified the debate over government involvement in online content moderation, The Center Square reported.
President Trump's executive order bans the federal government from taking any action to restrict Americans' free speech rights.
The order is designed to prevent officials from limiting protected expression and to investigate prior instances of government censorship.
It ensures "that no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen."
It also ensures "that no taxpayer resources are used to engage in or facilitate any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen" and "identify and take appropriate action to correct past misconduct by the Federal Government related to censorship of protected speech."
Meta, formerly known as Facebook, ended its practice of censoring posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads earlier this month after CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that the Biden administration pressured the company to remove posts related to COVID-19, the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, and other issues. Those actions included suppressing the New York Post's reporting on Hunter Biden's laptop.
"We started building social media to give people a voice," Zuckerberg said in announcing the decision. "What started as a movement to be more inclusive has increasingly been used to shut down opinions and shut out people with different ideas, and it's gone too far."
Twitter, now X, also removed posts under pressure from the Biden administration before Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, bought the platform in 2022. Musk has since pledged more open standards for user expression, drawing praise and criticism from observers who say the company must balance free speech with content moderation.
The newly signed executive order directs the U.S. Attorney General to investigate past federal censorship efforts.
"The Attorney General, in consultation with the heads of executive departments and agencies, shall investigate the activities of the Federal Government over the last 4 years that are inconsistent with the purposes and policies of this order and prepare a report to be submitted to the President, through the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, with recommendations for appropriate remedial actions to be taken based on the findings of the report," it states.
The move is part of a broader push by President Trump to uphold First Amendment guarantees.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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