President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters during an event on protecting seniors with diabetes in the Rose Garden White House, Tuesday, May 26, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
By Zeke Miller
President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened social media companies with new regulations or even shuttering after Twitter added fact checks to two of his tweets.
The president can’t unilaterally regulate or close the companies, which would require action by Congress or the Federal Communications Commission. But that didn't stop Trump from angrily issuing strong warnings.
Claiming tech giants “silence conservative voices,” Trump tweeted early Wednesday, “We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen.” Later he tweeted without elaboration, “Big Action to follow.”
He repeated his unsubstantiated claim — which sparked his latest showdown with Silicon Valley — that expanding mail-in voting “would be a free for all on cheating, forgery and the theft of Ballots.”
There was no immediate reaction from Twitter or other social media companies to the president’s threats.
Trump and his campaign had lashed out Tuesday after Twitter added a warning phrase to two Trump tweets that called mail-in ballots “fraudulent” and predicted that “mail boxes will be robbed,” among other things. Under the tweets, there is now a link reading “Get the facts about mail-in ballots” that guides users to a Twitter “moments” page with fact checks and news stories about Trump’s unsubstantiated claims.
Trump replied on Twitter, accusing the platform of “interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election” and insisting that “as president, I will not allow this to happen.” His 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale, said Twitter’s “clear political bias” had led the campaign to pull “all our advertising from Twitter months ago.” Twitter has banned all political advertising since last November.
Trump did not explain his threat Wednesday, and the call to expand regulation appeared to fly in the face of long-held conservative principles on deregulation.
But some Trump allies, who have alleged bias on the part of tech companies, have questioned whether platforms like Twitter and Facebook should continue to enjoy liability protections as “platforms” under federal law — or be treated more like publishers, which can face lawsuits over content.
The protections have been credited with allowing the unfettered growth of the internet for more than two decades, but now some Trump allies are advocating that social media companies face more scrutiny.
“Big tech gets a huge handout from the federal government," Republican Sen. Josh Hawley told Fox News. “They get this special immunity, this special immunity from suits and from liability that’s worth billions of dollars to them every year. Why are they getting subsidized by federal taxpayers to censor conservatives, to censor people critical of China?”
There was no immediate reaction from Twitter or other social media companies to the president's threats.
McDonald's missed on both the top and bottom lines in its Q4 earnings, marking the fourth loss for the fast-food giant in the past eight quarters. It comes as higher costs from food to wages ate into the blue-chip company's profits. George Seay, CEO of investment advisor Annandale Capital, joined Wake Up with Cheddar to discuss the recent numbers and the better-than-expected success of the McPlant burger made with plant-based Beyond Meat. "They're changing with the times, and they have to," Seay noted. "You can just sell a Big Mac to everybody. There's a lot of people who don't want to eat a Big Mac anymore."
Moderna launched a clinical trial of a COVID-19 booster shot specifically targeting the omicron variant. The first participant has already received a dose, and Moderna expects to enroll about 600 adults total, split between two groups. In the first group, participants will have previously received two doses of the Moderna vaccine, and in the second, participants will have received its booster. Dr. Paul Burton, chief medical officer at Moderna, joined Cheddar’s Opening Bell to discuss the trial, yearly boosters, and what lies ahead for the company.
A growing number of workers at major produce companies, processing plants, and grocery stores are calling out sick.
These virus-related absences are resulting in product shortages, leaving supermarket shelves far from full. Jesse Newman, agriculture reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
There may be some light at the end of the tunnel for struggling retailer Kohl's. Shares soared more than 35 percent on Monday on reports that a second takeover could potentially be in the works - just days after a group backed by activist investment firm Starboard Value proposed buying the company. Private equity firm Sycamore Partners has allegedly reached out to Kohl's, offering to pay at least $65 per share in cash for the company - giving it a valuation of close to $9 billion. Joel Bines, Global Head of Retail at AlixPartners, joined Cheddar Movers to discuss the potential takeover as well as the state of retail in the U.S.
Big Apple workers who deliver for food apps like Doordash and Grubhub will now receive a number of legal protections provided through a package of new regulations that have started going into effect. These updated rules include more control over their deliveries, pay and tip transparency, a higher minimum pay rate, and access to restaurant bathrooms during the workday. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander joined Cheddar to elaborate on the regulations and how the platform holders reacted. "I have to say it's a mixed bag," he said. "Grubhub actually welcomed the legislation and said they recognize they need to do better by their deliveristas, but DoorDash, unfortunately, has actually been pushing back against the legislation."
