Trump Calls for a Digital Bill of Rights to Restore Freedom of Speech (Video)
by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – President-Elect Trump has called for a the end of digital censorship and called for Congress to pass a ‘digital bill of rights’ in order to restore freedom of speech to U.S. citizens.
Trump announced his plans to take immediate action upon his inauguration. “Within hours of my inauguration, I will sign an executive order prohibiting any federal department or agency from collaborating with any organization, business, or individual to censor, limit, categorize, or impede the lawful speech of American citizens,” he declared.
He further detailed his plans to cut off federal funding for efforts that label domestic speech as ‘mis-’ or ‘dis-information’. Trump emphasized his commitment to uphold free speech by stating, “And I will begin the process of identifying and firing every federal bureaucrat who has engaged in domestic censorship — directly or indirectly.”
His statement was aimed at the government’s bureaucratic apparatus, “Whether they are from the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, the FBI, the DOJ, no matter who they are.”
Trump outlined his intentions for the Department of Justice, stating, “I will order the Department of Justice to investigate all parties involved in the new online censorship regime, which is absolutely destructive and terrible, and to aggressively prosecute any and all crimes identified.”
He emphasized that potential offenses would cover a wide range of laws. “These include possible violations of federal civil rights law, campaign finance laws, federal election law, securities law, and anti-trust laws,” he explained. He also mentioned the Hatch Act and other potential criminal, civil, regulatory, and constitutional violations that would be scrutinized.
To support these actions, Trump called on House Republicans to act immediately. “I am urging House Republicans to immediately send preservation letters — and we have to do this right now — to the Biden administration, the Biden campaign, and every Silicon Valley tech giant, ordering them not to destroy evidence of censorship,” he asserted.
Trump outlined his plans regarding online platform regulation, stating, “Upon my inauguration as president, I will ask Congress to send a bill to my desk revising Section 230 to get big online platforms out of the censorship business.” He emphasized that changes to the current law would set stringent criteria for digital platforms to qualify for immunity protection.
“From now on, digital platforms should only qualify for immunity protection under Section 230 if they meet high standards of neutrality, transparency, fairness, and non-discrimination,” he explained.
Trump also proposed a dual approach to platform regulation, “We should require these platforms to increase their efforts to take down unlawful content, such as child exploitation and promoting terrorism, while dramatically curtailing their power to arbitrarily restrict lawful speech.” This, he argued, would ensure a more balanced approach to content management on digital platforms.
Trump proposed stringent measures against federal overreach in collaboration with private sectors. “We should also enact new laws establishing clear criminal penalties for federal bureaucrats who partner with private entities to circumvent the Constitution and deprive Americans of their First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights,” he said. He highlighted the gravity of these actions by adding, “In other words, deprive them of their vote. And once you lose those elections and once you lose your borders like we have, you no longer have a country.”
Further addressing concerns about the influence of former government employees in major tech platforms, Trump suggested regulatory changes. “Furthermore, to confront the problems of major platforms being infiltrated by legions of former Deep Staters and intelligence officials, there should be a 7-year cooling-off period before any employee of the FBI, CIA, NSA, DNI, DHS, or DOD is allowed to take a job at a company possessing vast quantities of U.S. user data.” This, he argued, would help prevent conflicts of interest and protect the privacy and rights of American citizens.
Trump emphasized the need for legislative action on digital rights, stating, “The time has finally come for Congress to pass a digital Bill of Rights.” He elaborated on what this should entail, particularly focusing on protections against government overreach: “This should include a right to digital due process — in other words, government officials should need a COURT ORDER to take down online content.”
He criticized current practices where less formal methods are used to influence online content management, saying, “not send information requests such as the FBI was sending to Twitter.” Trump’s comments highlight his call for more stringent legal requirements to govern the removal of online content to protect free expression.
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