BREAKING: Donald Trump is preparing a sweeping new executive order that would threaten to destroy free speech on the internet.

 

A leaked copy of the order would give Trump political appointees at the FTC and the FCC the power to block Facebook posts, YouTube videos, or anything else on the internet that they consider unacceptable.

 

The corporate media has almost totally ignored this story, and Common Dreams is one of the only news outlets giving it the attention it deserves. 

 

Will you make a donation to help Common Dreams sound the alarm on Trump’s “censor the internet” executive order?

 

Trump’s “censor the internet” executive order comes in response to claims by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and other far-right activists that platforms like Facebook and Twitter are biased against them.

 

But instead of protecting free speech, the order would repeal existing protections in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the law that allows online platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter to exist. 

 

The order then gives FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, a former Verizon lawyer, and FTC Chairman Joseph Simons, a former lawyer for Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, the authority to decide what political speech online is acceptable and what’s “fake news.” 

 

It's a stunning attack on free speech that's being condemned across the political spectrum—but the corporate media is asleep at the wheel, either ignoring the story entirely or burying the coverage.

 

As a nonprofit, independent news source, we can focus on the issues that truly matter, but we count on you to make sure we can continue covering important stories like this.

 

Will you make a donation to help support the independent journalists at Common Dreams who are calling out Trump’s “ensor the internet” executive order?

Thank you for all you do,

Kimberly Monaghan
Board Chair
for the whole Common Dreams news team