5 ms·

Statement by FCC Commissioner Starks on Section 230 Executive Order

39 points by aspenmayer 6y ago

casefields 6y ago
Reminder: The FCC is currently 3-2 Republicans. Starks is a Democrat.
aspenmayer 6y ago
“I’ll review the final Executive Order when it’s released and assess its impact on the FCC, but one thing is clear: the First Amendment and Section 230 remain the law of the land and control here. Our top priority should be connecting all Americans to high-quality, affordable broadband. The fight against COVID-19 has made closing the digital divide—and helping all Americans access education, work, and healthcare online—more critical than ever. We must keep our focus on that essential work.”
- otterley 6y ago
  I read that as, "I'm really irritated that the FCC is being used as a pawn in these silly games."
  - malwarebytess 6y ago
    doubt it. he's a trump appointee, though i suppose that doesn't mean he must be a sycophant. i read it as a perfunctory CYA message after media inquiries.
    - awinder 6y ago
      The FCC commissioners are channeled through the 2 parties, Pai was “an obama appointee” but mcconnell had recommended him. Starks is Democratic Party affiliated.
    - belltaco 6y ago
      The way it works is that the President's party gets 2 appointees and the opposition gets 1. Starks is the dem choice.
      - malwarebytess 6y ago
        Huh. That's weird. Is that only the FCC or does it apply to other federal appointments.
geuis 6y ago
Link to the executive order: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-preventing-online-censorship/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-or... Clearly not written by POTUS himself.
- rumanator 6y ago
  It's mind-numbingly strange how the Trump administration is reacting to Twitter attaching a "get the facts" link with attacks with accusations of being "fundamentally un-American and anti-democratic" and, ghasp, censorship. US citizens need to step up because the whiffs of fascism are getting stronger.
  - Avicebron 6y ago
    The whiffs of fascism is comping from anti-competitive and kleptocratic business practices. Fixing that is where we should be focusing.
    - rumanator 6y ago
      Dude, Trump lied his ass off and Twitter attached a "get the facts" link to Trump's original and unchanged post. This has zero to do with "kleptocratic business practices". What Twitter did is what a free press does. I'm fact, it's pathetic how anyone tries to defend Trump by pulling a "kleptocratic business practices" card.
      - s_y_n_t_a_x 6y ago
        > What Twitter did is what a free press does. Yeah that's the problem. If they want to do what free press does then they should be a publisher. Calling the other side pathetic and using hyperboles will not win anyone over to your side. Trump did not lie imo and if you consider his statements up for debate there are plenty of other political tweets that have never been flagged. Twitter opened a can of worms, they shouldn't have stepped into the political arena. - edit @ robotron - Trump has been a political figure for a long time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPs17_AkTI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPs17_AkTI He may not have been directly in politics but as a real estate mogul and CEO I'm sure he's networked in. To summarize him as just a reality star is disingenuous.
chad_strategic 6y ago
Just for a little humor... Is this executive order 66?
- sammalloy 6y ago
  > Is this executive order 66? This comes pretty close to it: https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/2020/5/28/21265799/inspectors-general-trump-linick-atkinson https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/2020/5/28/21265799/inspecto...
NomDePlum 6y ago
Surely Trumps most valid recourse would be to not use Twitter? Why is anything else close to appropriate? There are certainly better and more important things for him to be focused and working on at present. I'm not from the USA but I thought the President was supposed to serve the country, not the opposite way around. From the outside this looks like a personal vendetta not a proportionate or necessary action.
- mike503 6y ago
  It’s totally a vendetta. If it was legitimate it would have come at a different time, not a couple days after his tweet was marked and especially during a pandemic. He’s a big crybaby, and somehow wants a private company to abide by 1A
- sjg007 6y ago
  Yes there’s no reason twitter has to do anything trump says. He uses twitter because it is game able and repeated by the media.
beirut_bootleg 6y ago
I've read through the whole order and there are dozens of mentions of restricting access and censoring, deleting, or "disappearing" of content. It sounds like Twitter is erasing or burying content when all they did was add a "Get the facts" link. IANAL and all that but how is this censorship, and how does it relate to 1A? Wouldn't a better name for it be "annotating"?
ac29 6y ago
This statement doesnt appear to add any new information to the discussion.

39 points by aspenmayer 6y ago

Reminder: The FCC is currently 3-2 Republicans. Starks is a Democrat.

“I’ll review the final Executive Order when it’s released and assess its impact on the FCC, but one thing is clear: the First Amendment and Section 230 remain the law of the land and control here. Our top priority should be connecting all Americans to high-quality, affordable broadband. The fight against COVID-19 has made closing the digital divide—and helping all Americans access education, work, and healthcare online—more critical than ever. We must keep our focus on that essential work.”

otterley 6y ago
I read that as, "I'm really irritated that the FCC is being used as a pawn in these silly games."
- malwarebytess 6y ago
  doubt it. he's a trump appointee, though i suppose that doesn't mean he must be a sycophant. i read it as a perfunctory CYA message after media inquiries.
  - awinder 6y ago
    The FCC commissioners are channeled through the 2 parties, Pai was “an obama appointee” but mcconnell had recommended him. Starks is Democratic Party affiliated.
  - belltaco 6y ago
    The way it works is that the President's party gets 2 appointees and the opposition gets 1. Starks is the dem choice.
    - malwarebytess 6y ago
      Huh. That's weird. Is that only the FCC or does it apply to other federal appointments.

geuis 6y ago

Link to the executive order: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-preventing-online-censorship/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-or... Clearly not written by POTUS himself.

rumanator 6y ago
It's mind-numbingly strange how the Trump administration is reacting to Twitter attaching a "get the facts" link with attacks with accusations of being "fundamentally un-American and anti-democratic" and, ghasp, censorship. US citizens need to step up because the whiffs of fascism are getting stronger.
- Avicebron 6y ago
  The whiffs of fascism is comping from anti-competitive and kleptocratic business practices. Fixing that is where we should be focusing.
  - rumanator 6y ago
    Dude, Trump lied his ass off and Twitter attached a "get the facts" link to Trump's original and unchanged post. This has zero to do with "kleptocratic business practices". What Twitter did is what a free press does. I'm fact, it's pathetic how anyone tries to defend Trump by pulling a "kleptocratic business practices" card.
    - s_y_n_t_a_x 6y ago
      > What Twitter did is what a free press does. Yeah that's the problem. If they want to do what free press does then they should be a publisher. Calling the other side pathetic and using hyperboles will not win anyone over to your side. Trump did not lie imo and if you consider his statements up for debate there are plenty of other political tweets that have never been flagged. Twitter opened a can of worms, they shouldn't have stepped into the political arena. - edit @ robotron - Trump has been a political figure for a long time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPs17_AkTI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPs17_AkTI He may not have been directly in politics but as a real estate mogul and CEO I'm sure he's networked in. To summarize him as just a reality star is disingenuous.

chad_strategic 6y ago

Just for a little humor... Is this executive order 66?

sammalloy 6y ago
> Is this executive order 66? This comes pretty close to it: https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/2020/5/28/21265799/inspectors-general-trump-linick-atkinson https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/2020/5/28/21265799/inspecto...

NomDePlum 6y ago

Surely Trumps most valid recourse would be to not use Twitter? Why is anything else close to appropriate? There are certainly better and more important things for him to be focused and working on at present. I'm not from the USA but I thought the President was supposed to serve the country, not the opposite way around. From the outside this looks like a personal vendetta not a proportionate or necessary action.

mike503 6y ago
It’s totally a vendetta. If it was legitimate it would have come at a different time, not a couple days after his tweet was marked and especially during a pandemic. He’s a big crybaby, and somehow wants a private company to abide by 1A
sjg007 6y ago
Yes there’s no reason twitter has to do anything trump says. He uses twitter because it is game able and repeated by the media.

beirut_bootleg 6y ago

I've read through the whole order and there are dozens of mentions of restricting access and censoring, deleting, or "disappearing" of content. It sounds like Twitter is erasing or burying content when all they did was add a "Get the facts" link. IANAL and all that but how is this censorship, and how does it relate to 1A? Wouldn't a better name for it be "annotating"?

ac29 6y ago

This statement doesnt appear to add any new information to the discussion.