WASHINGTON (Reuters) -US President Donald Trump’s chief communications regulator said Thursday that he had no objection to decisions by Facebook and Twitter to block the president from their social media platforms.
“Given the circumstances we saw yesterday … I’m not going to question those decisions,” Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai told C-SPAN on Thursday, according to a recording of the interview seen by Reuters. .
When asked whether Trump bore responsibility for Trump supporters’ violent actions at the Capitol on Wednesday, Pai said: “ It was a terrible mistake to suggest that the results of the election, and in particular the trial that culminated in yesterday’s Senate and House, to be changed in any way. That was a terrible mistake and one that, in my opinion, should not have been granted. “
Pai, who was appointed president by Trump in January 2017, said he will not continue to set new rules that the outgoing president aims to limit liability protections for the social media companies, a spokesman for the agency confirmed.
Trump last year demanded that the FCC enact new rules to limit the protections of social media companies under Section 230, a provision of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 that protects the companies from liability for content posted by their users and them allows deletion of legal but offensive messages.
Pai had said on October 15 that he would continue to enact new rules, but he told C-SPAN on Thursday that there was not enough time before President-elect Joe Biden took office on January 20 to proceed.
On Wednesday, Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, and the president posted a video in support of them. Both Twitter and Facebook deleted the video and stopped Trump from posting new messages.
The FCC under Biden is unlikely to make any progress, as the two current Democratic FCC commissioners have previously called for Trump’s efforts to be rejected.
Trump had also urged Congress to repeal Section 230 and veto an annual defense bill, in part because it did not include repeal. Congress overruled its veto.
Reporting by David Shepardson Editing by Chris Reese and David Gregorio