Trump signs executive order seeking regulations on social media

President Trump.
(Image credit: Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)

President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday challenging how social media companies oversee posts and content on their site — though experts doubt the order has much power.

"We're here today to defend free speech from one of the greatest dangers," Trump said before signing the order, which directs government agencies in charge of communications to see if they can further regulate social media companies. But experts tell The Associated Press that Trump's attempt to curtail "censorship" will probably end up forcing social media platforms to further crack down on controversial posts, seeing as Trump has taken aim at a provision that excepts those platforms from being prosecuted for user-generated content.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.