Photo by Evan Vucci, Associated Press
Some of us thought of it as just another spat between political figure and private companies. But it looks like the small spat between US President Donald Trump and social media companies has blown out of proportion. Yup, Trump has signed an executive order that is aimed at social media companies like Twitter and Facebook.
For those who are wondering what this means, this executive order aims to prevent online censorship, a reaction to Trump's tweet being called out. Long story short, Trump claimed mailed-in voting ballots would lead to voter fraud but Twitter decided to add a fact-check disclaimer to it. Of course, this move will have to go through the US Congress before it's passed and legal experts don't see that happening.
The original Tweet and fact-check disclaimer
But what does this mean for us, you ask? While happenings in the USA are normally not a concern for us, the fact that the targets are social media means that it could affect content that is being posted on those sites. If fake news is not being censored, that could potentially affect a lot more people than just US citizens. According to the LA Times, Twitter's CEO Jack Dorsey defended the company's decision to censor Trump's posts and will continue to point out any fake news.
With how reliant we are on the internet for news these days, widely used social media platforms need to take up the role of dealing with fake news. But with that said, what are your thoughts on this? Would this affect us Malaysians and the world at large? Share your thoughts on this with us on our Facebook page and stay tuned to TechNave.com for more tech news.
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