Trump Orders Government Not to Infringe on Americans’ Speech

President Donald Trump on Monday ordered that no federal officer, employee or agent may unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen, an early step toward his campaign promise to dismantle what he called government “censorship” of U.S. citizens.

The president’s executive order, issued just hours after he was sworn in to a second term, comes after Trump and his supporters have accused the federal government of pressuring social media companies to take down lawful posts over concerns around misinformation.

The order also instructs the attorney general, in consultation with other executive agency heads, to investigate how federal government actions over the four years of the Biden administration could have infringed on free speech and propose “remedial actions” based on the findings.

Trump’s order, which he signed onstage at Capital One Arena along with a slate of other executive actions, shows how motivated he is to crack down on what he calls the “censorship cartel” on his first day in office.

It’s a winning stance among his supporters, many of whom feel that the federal government has unfairly targeted lawful speech from right-wing voices.

{snip}

The Supreme Court last year sided with former President Joe Biden’s administration in a dispute with Republican-led states over how far the federal government can go to combat controversial social media posts on topics including COVID-19 and election security.

{snip}

It’s not yet clear how the order could affect the work that several U.S. agencies do to track false claims that pose threats to election security, including the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, known as CISA.

CISA, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, has faced criticism from Republicans for its efforts to counter misinformation. Trump’s pick to head DHS, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, said during a Senate confirmation hearing last week that she was willing to rein in the agency’s work if that’s what federal lawmakers want.

{snip}