In a clear and hard hitting statement, former President Donald Trump said on Thursday that, after winning the White House in 2024, his first order of business will be to "reclaim the right to free speech for all Americans."
Trump vowed that he would ban the federal government from using the terms “misinformation” and “disinformation” to describe domestic speech if he retakes the White House.
In a video posted to TruthSocial, Trump said he would:
"BAN the government from policing lawful speech;
"FIRE any bureaucrat who has directly or indirectly engaged in censorship;
"BAR federal funds for universities that censor speech."
Trump added: "That's why today I'm announcing my plan to shatter the left-wing censorship regime and to reclaim the right to free speech for all Americans, and reclaim is a very important word in this case because they've taken it away."
Trump also said he would impose a seven-year ban on former FBI and CIA workers handling private-sector U.S. consumer records.
Trump said this month’s “Twitter Files” releases “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.”
“The censorship cartel must be dismantled and destroyed — and it must happen immediately,” Trump said in the video, which is expected to be the first in a series of policy announcements as part of his 2024 presidential campaign.
The Biden administration has admitted to “flagging” posts for Facebook to censor while allegedly operating social media tip-lines with deletion requests.
"Some of Trump’s proposals — such as limiting Section 230 legal immunity for tech platforms unless they act with political neutrality — were pushed by the 45th president since his time in office, while others would forge new ground," the New York Post reported.
Trump vowed: “Within hours of my inauguration, I will sign an executive order banning any federal department or agency from colluding with any organization, business, or person, to censor, limit, categorize, or impede the lawful speech of American citizens,.
“I will then ban federal money from being used to label domestic speech as ‘mis-‘ or ‘dis-information’. And I will begin the process of identifying and firing every federal bureaucrat who has engaged in domestic censorship — directly or indirectly — whether they are the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, the FBI, the DOJ, no matter who they are.”
Trump said his proposed Digital Bill of Rights “should include a right to digital due process — in other words, government officials should need a court order to take down online content, not send information requests such as the FBI was sending to Twitter.”
Trump said his proposal would include the right to be notified if large online platforms remove, shadow ban or otherwise restrict users' accounts, along with a right to an explanation and an ability to appeal.
“In addition, all users over the age of 18 should have the right to opt-out of content moderation and curation entirely, and receive an unmanipulated stream of information if they so choose,” Trump said.
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