US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at removing some of the legal protection enjoyed by social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.

The move follows Twitter’s decision earlier this week to add a ‘fact-check' warning to one of the president’s tweets which made claims about potential postal voting fraud.

Immunity

The platform also hid one of Trump’s tweets about protests in Minneapolis, saying it violated Twitter rules about glorifying violence.

The executive order targets in particular Section 203(c) of the US’s Communications Decency Act, which gives social media platforms immunity from liability in certain cases, as they are not generally held responsible for content posted by users.

Advertising

The US president claims the tech giants are using the provision “to stifle viewpoints with which they disagree”.

The order also calls on federal departments and agencies to review the amount of money they pay the social media platforms for advertising and marketing.

Twitter, Google and Facebook have already condemned the order, and it is expected to be challenged in the courts.