The art of the distraction

[Bloomberg]( Follow Us //link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/click/20459906.69587/aHR0cHM6Ly90d2l0dGVyLmNvbS90ZWNobm9sb2d5/582c8673566a94262a8b49bdBb38c0372 [Get the newsletter]( Hi all, it's Eric. Donald Trump loves political theater. The president’s tendency to chase drama first and foremost is obvious even what he’s ostensibly trying to do is overhaul decades-old communications regulations. For most of the week, Trump has been raging about Twitter Inc.’s decision to attach fact-checking disclaimers to messages of his that make baseless arguments about voter fraud. On Thursday, the president signed an executive order designed to stop social media companies from taking any action against misleading or otherwise offensive posts. Such a move was needed, according to Trump, “to protect and uphold the free speech rights of the American people.” This was the administration’s most substantial attack on Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, a law it has had in its sights for quite some time. Section 230 provides some legal protections for companies from being sued over content their users post to their websites. The law has its critics from across the political spectrum; conservatives have been increasingly interested in stripping the protections as a way to punish companies for allegedly disfavoring political right. Trump’s order would potentially narrow the Section 230’s protections, and increase scrutiny of perceived political bias. The order will almost certainly be challenged, and many experts think it doesn’t stand a chance of holding up. Daphne Keller, an expert on tech platform regulation at Stanford University, [marked up a draft version]( of the executive order, labeling much of its language either mere “atmospherics” without the force of law or “legally dubious.” Democratic Senator Ron Wyden called it “[plainly illegal](,” and accused Trump of “desperately trying to steal for himself the power of the courts and Congress to rewrite decades of settled law.” Unless, the administration drastically changed directions with their executive order, it seems unlikely that Trump can tell social media companies, which have their own free speech rights, who they can fact-check or whose posts they can take down. Congress passed the law that governs social media takedown rules and Congress would likely need to amend it. Of course, Trump’s executive orders can be political successful even if they’re legally vulnerable. The president’s fight with Twitter has attracted significant media attention at a time the country's death toll from Covid-19 [has just surpassed 100,000](, and many more are sick and unemployed. Thursday certainly was convenient timing to plan, in Trump’s words, “a Big Day for Social Media and FAIRNESS.” There’s a chance that, in the long-term, this strategy backfires. Twitter’s initial presidential fact-check was extremely mild. The company flagged Trump’s offending tweets with a link that said “Get the facts about mail-in ballots.” Only after users [clicked through]( did they get the sense that Twitter thought Trump had said something misleading. The president’s attacks on Twitter are drawing far more attention than Twitter’s links ever could have. The executive order rallies conservatives around their hostility towards Silicon Valley, but it also uses up one of Trump’s main tools to escalate. Unlike Facebook Inc. or Google, Twitter is too small to draw credible antitrust scrutiny. An unenforceable executive action may just show the company that the law is on its side, presidential histrionics or not. If Twitter takes harsher action against some new round of tweets, where does the president go next? [–Eric Newcomer](mailto:enewcomer@bloomberg.net) If you read one thing Despite the pressure from Trump, [Twitter kept fact-checking](. This time it offered users more information about the origins of the coronavirus after a Chinese official [tweeted]( that an article offered "Evidence that the Virus Originated in the US." It also labeled other photos "misleading media." And here’s what you need to know in global technology news Facebook looks into posters who go too viral. It's an attempt to [crack down on inauthentic activity](. Tesla investor demands...ads? A Tesla shareholder is [maneuvering to ask the company to start advertising its cars](. Cisco is in advanced talks to spend $1 billion for [software company ThousandEyes.]( You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Fully Charged newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022