Published 10:07 IST, May 29th 2020
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez takes a dig at Trump and Zuckerberg over Twitter fact-check row
Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday took a dig at US President Donald Trump and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticised US President Donald Trump and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Friday, May 29. Ocasio-Cortez in her tweets stated that Trump and Zuckerberg are 'messing up the democracy'. Her reaction comes amid Trump's row with Twitter.
AOC on Zuckerberg's response
Responding to Trump's tweet citing Zuckerberg on the fact check row, Ocasio-Cortez stated that both are messing the US democracy. Zuckerberg had remarked that Facebook follows a different policy than Twitter and had said that social media platforms should not be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online. Here's AOC's tweet in response:
Trump Signs Executive Order 'defending Free Speech'
Meanwhile, Trump on Thursday signed an executive order targeting social media platforms and has spoken against 'selective censorship' by some online platforms. Trump has said the order is aimed at defending free speech from one of the 'gravest danger.' He also clarified that power distribution exercised by online platforms was 'un-American and anti-democratic'.
He also asserted that the country cannot allow a 'limited number of online platforms to handpick the speech that Americans may access'. Even as Trump assured that he is for a 'free and open debate' on the internet, he said:
"Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube wield immense if not unprecedented power to shape the interpretation of public events; to censor, delete, or disappear information; and to control what people see or do not see."
The order further directs the executive branch to ask independent rule-making agencies including the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission to study whether they can place new regulations on the companies.
Twitter enables fact-check on Trump's tweet
Earlier on Tuesday, Twitter flagged Donald Trump's tweets pertaining to mail-in ballots, calling it 'potentially misleading.' Trump had tweeted: “Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged & even illegally printed out & fraudulently signed”.
Moments later as his tweets were flagged with fact-check tool, Trump lashed out at Twitter stating that the social networking firm is 'interfering' with the US Presidential elections.
Trump went on to threaten that he will 'not allow' the 'stifling of free speech'. Trump's campaign team for the upcoming elections also released a statement explaining that Twitter was trying to stop the US President's message go through to the voters.
Updated 10:07 IST, May 29th 2020