Cont: The Trump Presidency: Part 22

[Stacyhs]

I just read the supposed text of Trump's Twitter EO.

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-leaked-executive-order-social-media-facebook-twitter-2020-5

To me, the key issue/question, is going to be, "Does putting a link below a tweet stating, '! Get the facts about (mail in ballots)'" count as editing?

Does it count as censorship or interference in an election? Those are Trump's accusations. I don't see how. Simply supplying a link to fact checking is not censorship or interference. Trump's tweets are not being removed nor is Twitter saying he's wrong; it's leaving that up to the person who can choose whether to use the link or not and make up their own mind.

The whole thing is asinine.

 

[Horatius]

I think what he has in mind is that content creators can sue if their ads or posts are affected by algorithms. This isn't just about Twitter, the big fish are Facebook and YouTube which have deprioritized hate speech and conspiracy theory content.

That may be what he had in mind, but it's not what the text of his order would do, if actually carried out. This is what happens when someone who struggles to write a tweet that isn't misspelled tries to write regulations.

I hate to say it, but I think Zuck is just as likely to say 'deactivate the policing algorithms' as he is to say 'crack down on offensive content.'

They're not worried about what happens if they get sued by a widower like Klausutis. They're worried about opening themselves up to Thiel, Koch, or PACs, who can do real damage.

That may very well be what happens.

Let's hope that the tsunami of Nazi ******** that would follow such an action will shock enough people into action that Trump loses in a landslide.

 

[AnonyMoose]

Trump got fact checked and it took less than 24 hours to get an executive order.
A pandemic sweeps the world and he does nothing for 3 months.

Priorities priorities.

 

[Beelzebuddy]

Let's hope that the tsunami of Nazi ******** that would follow such an action will shock enough people into action that Trump loses in a landslide.

Or he rides that wave into a glorious new reich.

 

[Aridas]

To poke at a couple things...

McConnell, Koch brothers, and NRA get their wish: Trump ends nonprofit requirement to disclose cash

Republicans really love their dark money.

'The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat,' speaker says in video gleefully tweeted by Trump

Already poked at, but bears repeating. There's a lot of things that could be said, but... ugh. I don't have time now.

Barr names yet another very special prosecutor in the ongoing effort to make 'Obamagate' happen

Shock.

Bad state data hides coronavirus threat as Trump pushes reopening

In short, lots and lots of extra "pneumonia" deaths.

Betsy DeVos is 'absolutely' using coronavirus crisis to siphon money from public to private schools

No surprise there, of course.

Reuters: Millions in emergency loans have gone to businesses that have avoided paying U.S. taxes

Oversight!

 

[xjx388]

Nice no true scottsmen there. How about defining Trump supporter as those who support him by say planning on voting for him?

Surprising he can get so many votes when no one ever supports him.

Let me put it this way: Biden is running against Trump this year, I will probably vote for Biden. However, there is no way you could label me a "Biden supporter." Many posters here liked other candidates and don't particularly like Biden. They aren't "Biden supporters," just because they hold their nose and vote for him.

 

[Stacyhs]

Is that going to matter, though... my impression is that legal challenges are not going to override government activity. It'll wind through the courts for the next three years and sometime near the end of Trump's 2nd term, we'll get a ruling. Which the WH will appeal and maybe send it to the Supreme Court with its 5 new Trump appointed judges.

I don't think it's even going to get as far as the courts. This is a great example of Trump throwing a temper tantrum and trying to use an EO to get his way. I think it's going nowhere.

Trump’s order as drafted essentially would pave the way for U.S. agencies to revisit and potentially undo long-standing legal protections known as Section 230, which spares tech giants from being held liable for the content they allow online and their own moderation decisions, according to two people familiar with the document, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it has not been finalized.

It is not clear, however, if the FTC and FCC plan to take the actions sought by the president. The agencies are independent, operating separately of Trump’s Cabinet, leaving enforcement to their discretion. The FCC declined to comment, and the FTC did not immediately respond.

Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democratic FCC commissioner, blasted the draft order Thursday as unworkable. “Social media can be frustrating,” she said in a statement. “But an executive order that would turn the Federal Communications Commission into the president’s speech police is not the answer.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/05/28/trump-social-media-executive-order/

 

[ponderingturtle]

Let me put it this way: Biden is running against Trump this year, I will probably vote for Biden. However, there is no way you could label me a "Biden supporter." Many posters here liked other candidates and don't particularly like Biden. They aren't "Biden supporters," just because they hold their nose and vote for him.

I really don't care for biden and yet voting for him makes me a Biden supporter. You are too. We might both have preferred to have other choices but that is not how the american electoral system works.

 

[blutoski]

That may be what he had in mind, but it's not what the text of his order would do, if actually carried out. This is what happens when someone who struggles to write a tweet that isn't misspelled tries to write regulations.

I hate to say it, but I'm suspending my judgement until we actually see the EO.

I'm pretty confident he's not the one authoring it. It feels too important, something his election strategists want a hand in. I'm thinking it'll be a "Sign here sir," thing.

 

[Safe-Keeper]

I hate to say it, but I'm suspending my judgement until we actually see the EO.

I'm pretty confident he's not the one authoring it. It feels too important, something his election strategists want a hand in. I'm thinking it'll be a "Sign here sir," thing.

I predict "Twitter has to close or say they're sorry they've been mean to me" in sharpie or crayons.
But in all seriousness, I too am witholding judgment, etc.

 

[Stacyhs]

I really don't care for biden and yet voting for him makes me a Biden supporter. You are too. We might both have preferred to have other choices but that is not how the american electoral system works.

I agree with you: If you vote for Trump, you're a Trump supporter. There are varying degrees of enthusiasm in that support from "holding my nose" to outright adulation, but it is support nonetheless. Any attempt to say otherwise is just delusional.

 

[blutoski]

I don't think it's even going to get as far as the courts.

I think it's too early to say, but one reason I agree with you is, "Who'd challenge it?" Facebook would be, "OK, finally, we can scrap that whole content monitoring thing."

This is a great example of Trump throwing a temper tantrum and trying to use an EO to get his way. I think it's going nowhere.

I'm not so confident, and mainly it's because I think the stakes are very high and have the attention of Trump's campaign.

 

[JeanTate]

I rarely post in this board, so please be gentle.

I've been reading mainstream articles on the Trump administration's latest moves to destroy (or greatly weaken) Huawei. As I see it, these may be very effective, in the short-term. But longer-term they all but ensure that the days of America being great are doomed.

Many of the reported moves seem to involve the US government strong-arming companies involved in many, many semiconductor/chip/etc supply chains. Companies in the Netherlands (ASML), Taiwan (TSMC), South Korea (Samsung), as well as in the US. None of these can afford to ignore such strong-arming. But, enterprise and competition being what they are, and creativity not being limited to the US, the strong-arming will surely result in things like a rise in domestic companies in China as competitors to ASML, TSMC, etc. And perhaps start-ups in Asia (not just China) and Europe developing products with no key US content, and aiming to sell globally except to the US. Ericsson and Nokia likely aren't agile enough, but Samsung might be.

In short, aren't these Trump admin efforts "own goals"?

 

[timhau]

I agree with you: If you vote for Trump, you're a Trump supporter. There are varying degrees of enthusiasm in that support from "holding my nose" to outright adulation, but it is support nonetheless. Any attempt to say otherwise is just delusional.

Exactly. You vote for it, you own it. And concerning Trump: You especially own it if it behaves exactly like it has always behaved when it's elected.

 

[shemp]

I rarely post in this board, so please be gentle.

I've been reading mainstream articles on the Trump administration's latest moves to destroy (or greatly weaken) Huawei. As I see it, these may be very effective, in the short-term. But longer-term they all but ensure that the days of America being great are doomed.

Many of the reported moves seem to involve the US government strong-arming companies involved in many, many semiconductor/chip/etc supply chains. Companies in the Netherlands (ASML), Taiwan (TSMC), South Korea (Samsung), as well as in the US. None of these can afford to ignore such strong-arming. But, enterprise and competition being what they are, and creativity not being limited to the US, the strong-arming will surely result in things like a rise in domestic companies in China as competitors to ASML, TSMC, etc. And perhaps start-ups in Asia (not just China) and Europe developing products with no key US content, and aiming to sell globally except to the US. Ericsson and Nokia likely aren't agile enough, but Samsung might be.

In short, aren't these Trump admin efforts "own goals"?

Previous US Presidents had people who would analyze such matters and report to him, and those Presidents would take that advice into account before making a decision. With Trump, all he needs to know is "China bad!"

Trump isn't just scoring accidental "own goals," he continually kicks the ball into his own net.

 

[Tero]

How can a business be a platform for free speech? Sure, if you own it, but for everyone else it is free content you give away and entertainment.

 

[Trebuchet]

Trump will win the election. You are all ******.

Yes and yes.
Trump won't win the election honestly, but he'll keep the office.
And then we are indeed ******. Figuratively anyhow, I haven't been literally ****** in some time.

 

[AnonyMoose]

How can a business be a platform for free speech? Sure, if you own it, but for everyone else it is free content you give away and entertainment.

It's not.

But "free speech" and "censorship" are trigger words for his minion voting base... And so, here we are.

 

[blutoski]

It's not.

But "free speech" and "censorship" are trigger words for his minion voting base... And so, here we are.

In a previous lifetime, I edited a college newspaper. We had this guy who was not a student keep submitting political screeds and insisted that our disinterest in printing them was a violation of his first amendment rights. (We're in Canada BTW)

This all came to an end when he broke into the printers and pulled pallets of papers out to the dumpster and lit them on fire. Yep: The People's Champion Of Free Speech was burning books. At that point campus security got involved, and we never heard from him again.

But the weird thing was that Freedom Of Speech just seems to be an idee fixe where a person thinks the universe revolves around them and everybody is obliged to listen silently their thoughts.

 

[Safe-Keeper]

Both "democracy" and "freedom of speech" have become empty buzzwords to an annoyingly high number of people.