FCC moves to regulate social media after Trump’s executive order

The FCC has announced that it will move to regulate social media following President Trump’s executive order earlier this year.

Trump’s executive order followed fact-checking by Twitter which highlighted inaccuracies in his tweets. Despite the tweets remaining public, Trump argued that it amounted to censorship by Twitter.

Under the proposed changes, social media platforms could be sued for anything which could be deemed censorship such as fact-checking. This itself...

16 October 2020 | Legislation & Government

Critics weigh in as Section 230 proposals threaten free speech

Critics have weighed in on proposals to change or scrap Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects online companies from being sued for what users share.

Section 230 was thrust into the limelight after President Trump claimed it’s being used to silence voices after some of his tweets were flagged as containing misinformation.

However, Section 230 consists of just 26 words and is designed to protect free speech:

“No provider or user of an...

3 September 2020 | Legislation & Government

Twitter admits it was overzealous on ‘5G causes COVID-19’ fact-checking

Twitter stepped up to call out the "5G causes COVID-19" conspiracy theories, but admits it was a bit overzealous in doing so.

Most conspiracy theories are relatively harmless and you can just roll your eyes and scroll on. However, the fear around COVID-19 has led to people taking some truly stupid actions.

If you're immersed in the wonderful world of social media, then you've probably seen the videos of people burning cell towers – many of which aren't even 5G. You can...

29 June 2020 | Networks

FCC commissioners chime in on Trump’s order to censor social networks

FCC commissioners have given opposing takes on Trump’s executive order which aims to prevent social networks from fact-checking.

President Trump signed an executive order this week to change Section 230, a federal law that protects tech companies, to regulate social media platforms after his tweet was fact-checked.

Trump tweeted on Tuesday that mail-in ballots would be "substantially fraudulent," which has no factual basis. Twitter decided to warn users that the...

29 May 2020 | Legislation & Government

Twitter updates its rules to counter 5G COVID-19 misinformation

Twitter has updated its rules to counter the spread of misinformation about 5G causing COVID-19 which has led to burnt towers and the abuse of engineers.

On Wednesday, Twitter updated their policy to ban the following:

"Unverified claims that incite people to action, could lead to the destruction or damage of critical infrastructure, or could lead to widespread panic, social unrest, or large-scale disorder, such as “The National Guard just announced that no more...

23 April 2020 | Networks