(Bloomberg) — Former President Donald Trump pledged to take on what he called “Silicon Valley censorship” as he makes a third White House run, elevating allegations that the social-media companies have routinely censored conservative voices.
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Billed as a “free-speech platform,” Trump’s announcement signals that debates about social media are likely to become a central theme for the 2024 presidential election cycle, coinciding with billionaire Elon Musk’s efforts to thrust Republican allegations of liberal bias into the spotlight since he bought Twitter Inc. in October.
Musk gave a tranche of internal Twitter documents to two journalists who have been publishing a series called the “Twitter Files.” Those internal communications have shown Twitter employees discussing deliberations around removing Trump from the platform and handling right-leaning accounts that spread misinformation.
“In recent weeks, bombshell reports have confirmed that a sinister group of Deep State bureaucrats, Silicon Valley tyrants, left-wing activists, and depraved corporate news media have been conspiring to manipulate and silence the American People,” Trump said in a video posted on Thursday. “The censorship cartel must be dismantled and destroyed — and it must happen immediately.”
Trump’s platform calls for a series of reforms that would be likely to face constitutional challenges. He called for an executive order barring federal agencies from colluding with businesses or people to “censor” American citizens, a ban on “federal money from being used to label domestic speech as ‘mis-’ or ‘disinformation,” and “firing every federal bureaucrat who has engaged in domestic censorship.”
Republicans previously opposed the Biden administration’s efforts to create a “Disinformation Governance Board,” which would have advised the Department of Homeland Security on handling falsehoods around elections, the Covid-19 pandemic and other sensitive topics without running afoul of the First Amendment. That board was shut down in August amid public pressure, largely from Republicans.
Though Trump’s agenda sounds similar to Musk’s stated efforts to create “free speech” online, the former president has yet to rejoin Twitter.
He was booted from the platform for violating Twitter’s policies against incitement to violence in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol by Trump supporters seeking to prevent Joe Biden’s certification as president after the 2020 election.
While Musk reinstated Trump’s account after taking over at Twitter, the ex-president said he prefers to stay on his own social-media network, Truth Social.
Shortly before his policy pronouncement, Trump on Thursday began hawking digital trading cards with images such as his head atop cartoon super-hero figures.
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