From: januarybaybee@gmail.com   
      
   The Associated Press · Posted: May 28, 2020   
      
   U.S. President Donald Trump, angered by the first Twitter fact-check alert on   
   one of his tweets, can't unilaterally regulate or close social media   
   companies, and any effort would likely require action by Congress and be   
   challenged by the courts, experts    
   say. But he could conceivably make life more miserable for Silicon Valley.   
      
   U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that he plans to take 'big action' after   
   Twitter included a fact-checking link on his tweet about mail-in ballots, and   
   says he will sign an executive order pertaining to social media on Thursday.   
   2:00   
      
   Threatening to shut down Twitter for flagging false content. Claiming he can   
   "override" governors who dare to keep churches closed to congregants.   
   Asserting the "absolute authority" to force states to reopen, even when local   
   leaders say it's too soon.   
      
   As he battles the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. President Donald Trump has been   
   claiming extraordinarily sweeping powers that legal scholars say the president   
   simply doesn't have. And he has repeatedly refused to spell out the legal   
   basis for those powers.   
      
   "It's not that the president doesn't have a remarkable amount of power to   
   respond to a public health crisis. It's that these are not the powers he has,"   
   said Stephen Vladeck, a University of Texas School of Law professor who   
   specializes in constitutional    
   and national security law.   
      
   Trump is now on a tear against Twitter after the social media platform, which   
   he uses to speak directly to his more than 80 million followers, slapped   
   fact-check alerts on two of his tweets claiming that mail-in voting is   
   fraudulent.   
      
   The president can't unilaterally regulate or close the companies, and any   
   effort would likely require action by Congress. His administration shelved a   
   proposed executive order empowering the Federal Communications Commission to   
   regulate technology    
   companies, citing concerns it wouldn't pass legal muster.   
      
   Tech giants "silence conservative voices," Trump claimed on Twitter early   
   Wednesday. "We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever   
   allow this to happen."   
      
      
   Conservatives may want to see Twitter legally liable   
      
   White House strategic communications director Alyssa Farah said Trump would   
   sign an executive order related to social media companies on Thursday.   
      
   The call to expand regulation appears to fly in the face of long-held   
   conservative principles on deregulation, but Trump and his allies have long   
   accused the tech giants in liberal-leaning Silicon Valley of targeting   
   conservatives on social media by fact-   
   checking them or removing their posts.   
      
   The president's critics, such as Democratic congresswoman Barbara Lee, have   
   scolded the platforms for allowing him to put forth false or misleading   
   information that could confuse voters.   
      
   Some Trump allies have questioned whether platforms like Twitter and Facebook   
   should continue to enjoy liability protections as "platforms" under federal   
   law, or be treated more like publishers, which can face lawsuits over content.   
      
   The protections have been credited with allowing the unfettered growth of the   
   internet for more than two decades, but now some Trump allies are advocating   
   for social media companies to face more scrutiny.   
      
   "Big tech gets a huge handout from the federal government," Republican Sen.   
   Josh Hawley of Missouri told Fox News Channel. "They get this special   
   immunity, this special immunity from suits and from liability that's worth   
   billions of dollars to them every    
   year. Why are they getting subsidized by federal taxpayers to censor   
   conservatives, to censor people critical of China?"   
      
   Late Wednesday, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted, "We'll continue to point out   
   incorrect or disputed information about elections globally."   
      
   Dorsey also said: "This does not make us an 'arbiter of truth.' Our intention   
   is to connect the dots of conflicting statements and show the information in   
   dispute so people can judge for themselves."   
      
      
   Previous executive orders face legal challenges   
      
   Twitter's decision to mark Trump's tweets regarding mail-in balloting came as   
   the president was sparking another social media firestorm, continuing to stoke   
   a debunked conspiracy theory accusing MSNBC host Joe Scarborough of killing a   
   former    
   congressional office staffer. Prominent Republicans, including Wyoming   
   congresswoman Liz Cheney and Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, urged Trump to drop the   
   attack, which hasn't been marked with a fact check by the social media company.   
      
   Even if he doesn't follow through on threats, Trump's statements still can   
   have consequences as he uses his bully pulpit.   
      
   "He's still trying to wield his often outrageous interpretations of the law as   
   a cudgel to bludgeon others," said Joshua Geltzer, founding executive director   
   of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown   
   University Law Center.   
      
   Many of Trump's previous executive orders, including over border security and   
   immigration, are still working their way through the courts after being   
   challenged.   
      
   While Congress could pass legislation further regulating social media   
   platforms, Trump "has no such authority," said former federal judge Michael   
   McConnell, who now directs Stanford Law School's Constitutional Law Center.   
      
   "He is just venting," said McConnell.   
      
   Democrats control the House of Representatives, and it is unlikely such   
   divisive legislation would be tackled in the heat of an election cycle in   
   which the presidency, all House seats, and about one-third of Senate seats are   
   up for grabs.   
      
   "There is absolutely no First Amendment issue with Twitter adding a label to   
   the president's tweets," said Jameel Jaffer, executive director at the Knight   
   First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, who won the case that   
   prevents Trump from banning    
   his critics from his Twitter feed. "The only First Amendment issue here arises   
   from the president's threat to punish Twitter in some way for fact-checking   
   his statements."   
      
   But Jack Balkin, a Yale University law professor and First Amendment expert,   
   said that's not Trump's point.   
      
   "This is an attempt by the president to, as we used to say in basketball,   
   'work the refs,'" he said. "He's threatening and cajoling with the idea that   
   these folks in their corporate board rooms will think twice about what they're   
   doing, so they won't    
   touch him."   
      
      
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