By John D. McKinnon and Alex Leary
WASHINGTON -- President Trump is considering establishing a
panel to review complaints of anticonservative bias on social
media, according to people familiar with the matter, in a move that
would likely draw pushback from technology companies and
others.
The plans are still under discussion but could include the
establishment of a White House-created commission that would
examine allegations of online bias and censorship, these people
said. The administration could also encourage similar reviews by
federal regulatory agencies, such as the Federal Communications
Commission and the Federal Election Commission, they said.
"Left-wing bias in the tech world is a concern that definitely
needs to be addressed from our vantage point, and at least exposed
[so] that Americans have clear eyes about what we're dealing with,"
a White House official said.
Mr. Trump has long expressed that viewpoint, and in a recent
Twitter post indicated that a plan to address complaints of bias is
in the works.
"The Radical Left is in total command & control of Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter and Google," Mr. Trump tweeted May 16, adding
that his administration is "working to remedy this illegal
situation."
Facebook Inc., which also owns Instagram, defended its practices
when asked for a response to the nascent proposal.
"People on both sides of the aisle disagree with some of the
positions we've taken, but we remain committed to seeking outside
perspectives and communicating clearly about why we make the
decisions we do," the company said.
Twitter Inc. said: "We enforce the Twitter Rules impartially for
all users, regardless of their background or political affiliation.
We are constantly working to improve our systems and will continue
to be transparent and in regular communication with elected
officials in regard to our efforts."
A spokeswoman for Alphabet Inc.'s Google said the company builds
its products "with extraordinary care and safeguards to be a
trustworthy source of information for everyone, without any regard
for political viewpoint."
Jon Berroya, interim president of the Internet Association, a
trade group, disputed the contention that tech companies tilt
left.
"Online platforms do not have a political bias, and offer more
people a chance to have their voice heard than at any point in
history," he said.
The American Civil Liberties Union's senior legislative counsel
Kate Ruane said any moves by the government carry significant risk
of misfiring because of the companies' free-speech rights and other
concerns.
While it couldn't be determined exactly what the administration
might do, "we do know for certain that when the government tries to
intervene in viewpoint-based content moderation decisions by
private companies, what typically follows are debacles that
undermine online privacy, safety and speech," she said.
The administration also is considering new recommendations for
revamping federal protections adopted by Congress in Section 230 of
the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which gives online companies
broad immunity from liability for their users' actions, as well as
wide latitude to police content.
Critics across the political spectrum have argued that Section
230 now affords too much power to the giant tech platforms.
Conservative groups in particular contend that big tech
platforms engage in viewpoint bias in search rankings, news feeds,
content moderation and other practices. The companies generally
deny that they allow political biases to influence their decisions,
although they sometimes have fine-tuned their methods in response
to specific criticisms.
The administration's moves -- if they happen -- would help
highlight a complaint that Mr. Trump has raised frequently during
his presidency, just as the 2020 campaign season begins.
Mr. Trump last summer convened a White House social-media summit
where conservative critics vented about supposed big-tech bias. At
the time, the administration also considered a range of possible
actions, including taking steps to put the FCC and another
regulatory agency, the Federal Trade Commission, in charge of
policing internet censorship. But those proposals drew criticism
from civil-liberties advocates and eventually stalled.
Two GOP lawmakers who are allies of Mr. Trump said the
administration is moving closer to acting now as the 2020 election
looms.
"The president is increasingly aware of the headwinds we face
from big-tech bias," said Rep. Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.). "There have
been very active discussions about what the administration can do
with executive action to create a fair marketplace of ideas," he
said.
Mr. Gaetz noted that White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, a
former North Carolina House member and a leading conservative
voice, was himself subject to a practice on Twitter known as
"shadow banning" in 2018 that made his account difficult to find
even when a user was searching specifically for him.
"When Twitter shadow banned Mark Meadows, I'm not sure they
counted on him becoming chief of staff," said Mr. Gaetz, whose own
account also was subject to the restriction.
Twitter said at the time that conservative public officials
weren't being targeted based on their views, but because of how
their accounts interacted with others that had violated Twitter's
rules. Twitter said it was making changes to its policy.
Mr. Trump is likely to use the online review panel to help
energize his base in a year when online campaigning could take on
added significance because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"What they [White House officials] would like to see is bringing
awareness to this being an issue," said Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R.,
Tenn.), who is generally aware of the discussions.
A Pew Research Center poll in 2018, for example, found that 64%
of Republicans thought major technology companies support the views
of liberals over conservatives. Some 43% of Americans overall
thought major technology firms support the views of liberals over
conservatives, the poll found.
Consideration of the new steps comes at a time of rising tension
between the administration and Silicon Valley. The Justice
Department has been gearing up to sue Google over alleged antitrust
violations as soon as this summer, people familiar with the matter
said recently.
Google said at the time that it continues to engage with the
investigation, adding that "our focus is firmly on providing
services that help consumers, support thousands of businesses and
enable increased choice and competition."
Write to John D. McKinnon at john.mckinnon@wsj.com and Alex
Leary at alex.leary@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 23, 2020 14:15 ET (18:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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