Washington - US President Donald Trump
on Wednesday threatened to regulate or shut down social media
companies for stifling conservative voices, a day after Twitter
attached a warning to some of his tweets prompting readers to
fact check the president's claims.
Without offering evidence, Trump again accused such
platforms of bias, tweeting: "Republicans feel that Social Media
Platforms totally silence conservatives voices. We will strongly
regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to
happen."
The president, a heavy user of Twitter with more than 80
million followers, added: "Clean up your act, NOW!!!!"
Trump's threat to shut down platforms like Twitter Inc
and Facebook was his strongest yet within a
broader conservative backlash against Big Tech.
Shares of both companies fell.
Twitter for the first time added fact-check labels on Trump
tweets after he made unsubstantiated claims on Tuesday about
mail-in voting. It attached a blue exclamation mark alert to his
tweets to warn his claims were false and had been debunked by
factcheckers.
In a pair of early morning posts on Wednesday, the
Republican president again blasted mail-in ballots. In a third
tweet he threatened "big action" against Twitter.
A Twitter spokeswoman declined comment on Trump's tweets.
Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In recent years Twitter has been tightening its policies
amid criticism that its hands-off approach had allowed abuse,
fake accounts and misinformation to thrive.
Tech companies have been accused of anti-competitive
practices and violating user privacy. Apple, Google, Facebook
and Amazon are facing antitrust probes by the US Justice
Department, the Federal Trade Commission, state attorneys
general and a U.S. congressional panel.
AUTHORITY OR NOT?
It was not immediately clear whether Trump has the authority
to shut down the companies.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers, along with the Justice
Department, have been considering proposed changes to Section
230 of the Communications Decency Act, a federal law that
largely exempts online platforms from legal liability for the
material their users post.
Such changes could expose tech companies to more lawsuits or
significantly increase their costs.
The White House is considering establishing a panel to
review complaints of anti-conservative bias on social media,
according to recent news reports.
Twitter's dramatic shift on Tuesday prompted Trump to accuse
it of interfering in November's presidential election, while its
rival Facebook left Trump's post on mail-in ballots untouched on
its platform on Tuesday.