Key Takeaways:
– The Trump administration is committed to challenging the existing ‘Censorship Industrial Complex.’
– Despite succeeding in defunding the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, government resistance is anticipated.
– Incoming President Trump has expressed a determination to ‘dismantle and destroy’ the censorship cartel.
– Transparency-focused organizations suggest there might be significant resistance to the administration’s efforts.
In the world of U.S. politics, Donald Trump’s forthcoming administration recently scored an initial victory in its bid to check government overreach. This victory came as Congress removed clauses which the administration described as ‘sweetheart provisions for government censors’ from a bill aimed at preventing a government shutdown.
Abolishing Government Censorship: Next Steps
This achievement came when the Global Engagement Center’s funding, an agency accused by Republicans of domestic censorship, was eliminated from the final bill. As a result, the center ceased operations on Dec. 23. However, it was later revealed that the State Department had preemptively devised a plan to transfer the center’s employees and allocated funding to a different hub. This hub would purportedly counter foreign information manipulation and interference. President-elect Trump has not yet responded to this strategy.
In multiple public remarks, the president-elect stated that confronting the so-called ‘Censorship Industrial Complex’ will be a high priority for his incoming administration. This stand received a boost when Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg pledged to restore unfettered expression on his platforms and join the Trump administration’s efforts to resist global censorship.
Meeting Resistance
However, as the move by the State Department indicates, this crusade will likely encounter robust opposition. Senator Eric Schmitt warned of a ‘visceral reaction’ from the bureaucratic state entrenched in Washington. Schmitt, as Missouri’s attorney general, had initiated the Missouri v. Biden lawsuit against federal government complicity with social media companies and nonprofits targeting speech considered unfavorable.
In a video released in December 2022, Trump outlined potential steps under his ‘Free Speech Policy Initiative.’ Ironically, this video initially received limited attention due to YouTube banning the former president. Trump conveyed determination to ‘dismantle and destroy’ the ‘censorship cartel,’ planning to deploy robust executive action within hours of his inauguration.
Trump’s Pledges for Free Speech
Included in the Free Speech Policy Initiative is an executive order, expected on the first day, prohibiting federal authorities from colluding with others to curtail Americans’ protected speech. Other plans involve stopping federal dollars from categorizing domestic speech as misinformation or disinformation. The initiative also proposes identifying and dismissing federal employees involved in any form of censorship, while also advocating for laws to impose criminal penalties on such conduct.
Work is to be done with Congress to modify Section 230 of the Communications Act. This adjustment would extend liability protections only to large online platforms that meet high standards of neutrality, transparency, fairness, and non-discrimination. Additionally, the digital Bill of Rights, including a right to due process which requires government officials to obtain a court order before removing online content, will be pushed.
As Trump announced his initiative, he stated the fight for free speech is ‘a matter of victory or death for America – and for the survival of Western civilization itself.’ He committed to rooting out the entire censorship system, leaving nothing in its wake.
Unveiling the Censorship Industry
RealClearInvestigations has extensively documented a broad network of government agencies and connected NGOs that have partnered to fight Instagram and hate speech across social media, which they consider ‘dangerous mis-, dis-, and mal-information.’
For instance, the Global Engagement Center, created under the Obama administration, initially aimed to combat foreign propaganda. However, it shifted focus to alleged local threats, coordinating with counter-disinformation entities to ban disliked domestic news and opinions.
Spotlight on Free Speech Policies
Key figures in Trump’s administration, such as his nominee for chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, have indicated their commitment to ‘smash the censorship cartel.’ Additionally, Andrew Ferguson, Trump’s designate to lead the Federal Trade Commission, last month advocated for wide-ranging investigative and enforcement strategies to dismantle ‘anti-competitive cartels that facilitate or promote censorship.’
Meanwhile, notable figures such as Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have expressed their opposition to efforts by social media companies to target disapproved speech.
The Roadblocks Ahead
Despite these efforts, Mike Benz, founder of the Foundation for Freedom Online, cautions that the administration is expected to encounter significant resistance given the sprawling nature of the ‘censorship industry.’ The continued support for such efforts from twelve different government departments and 50 different government programs working with nearly 100 universities in the field of ‘disinformation studies’ presents serious obstacles. Therefore, the quest for unfettered free speech in the digital sphere continues with hurdles yet to overcome.