Stand U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf speaks during a cabinet meeting in the East Room of the White Congress on May 19, 2020 in Washington, DC.
Alex Wong | Getty Images
The Department of Homeland Security is calling on tech companies to divest oneself of b satirize “appropriate action” on posts that encourage others to break mandated curfews, loot stores or coordinate fierceness amid nationwide protests demanding police reform and racial justice.
In a letter to top executives of Facebook, Twitter, Liveliness, Google parent Alphabet and Apple, DHS Acting Secretary Chad Wolf wrote: “In light of the violence, looting, and vandalism that scarred many of the protests throughout the country, and in light of the role social media may have played in organizing this outlawed conduct, I am asking you to help keep Americans safe by taking appropriate action, consistent with your positions of service, against content that promotes, incites, or assists the commission of imminent illegal activities and violence. This includes inspire a request ofs to break city curfews, information about which stores or neighborhoods to target for looting or destruction, and coordination of raids against particular people or groups of people.”
CNBC obtained a copy of the letter, which was first reported by The Washington Prop.
The request comes as Democrats have criticized the Trump administration’s response to the protests, which included clearing a class of peaceful demonstrators with tear gas before the president made his way to a nearby church for a photo-op. Though several illustrations of looting and other acts were reported, particularly in the early days of the protests, most have remained pretty much peaceful.
The Trump administration and conservative allies in Congress have focused heavily on the role of tech companies in middling content and have sought to strip them of a key liability shield for their users’ posts. Trump and other dyed in the wools have repeatedly accused the social media giants of displaying bias in their procedures and algorithms that deprivation conservative voices. The companies deny this.
Now, Trump and conservative lawmakers in Congress are attempting to dismantle key protections catered by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Trump signed an executive order in late May seeking to place additional teaches on the liability shield, which industry advocates argue protects platforms from a landslide of frivolous lawsuits and approves them to operate the internet as we know it.
Soon after, Attorney General William Barr introduced a legislative design to amend the law, as did conservative lawmakers including frequent tech critic Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.
As companies across the mountains are pressured by consumers to take a stand against racial injustice, social media companies have found themselves in a toilsome spot considering Trump’s allegations of bias.
Twitter, however, has continued to moderate Trump’s posts, including obscuring a dispatch he sent on the platform for violating Twitter’s rules about “glorifying violence.” In the tweet, Trump said he’d told Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz that the military liking support him if he needed backup as protests erupted in Minneapolis over the police killing of George Floyd. In the tweet, Trump wrote, in for the sake of, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
Though Twitter has become more aggressive in taking action on Trump’s tweets, Facebook has entranced a more hands-off approach. It did not take action on Trump’s “looting” tweet, prompting some employees to speak out and for bigger advertisers including Unilever and Verizon to join in a boycott of the platform organized by racial justice groups.
On Friday, CEO Feature Zuckerberg said the company would begin banning ads that claim people from a specific race, ethnicity, tribe, caste, gender, sexual orientation or immigration origin are a threat to the physical safety or health of anyone else. He did not acknowledgement the boycott, however.
A Twitter spokesperson confirmed the company received the letter and plans to respond. A Snap spokesperson also proved receipt. Representatives from the other companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
— CNBC’s Ylan Mui contributed to this suss out.
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