Psaki said President Biden has been a strong supporter of fundamental reforms to achieve that goal, including reforms to Section 230, enacting antitrust reforms, requiring more transparency, and more….reports Asian Lite News
The White House on Monday declined to comment on billionaire businessman Elon Musk buying Twitter Inc., but said that President Joe Biden has long been concerned about the power of social media platforms.
Answering to a question about the concerns White House was having about the deal, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said she can’t comment on a specific transaction.
But she said the concerns are not new.
Labelling it as a “general matter”, Psaki said: “No matter who owns or runs Twitter, the President has long been concerned about the power of large social media platforms, the power they have over our everyday lives; has long argued that tech platforms must be held accountable for the harms they cause.”
Psaki said President Biden has been a strong supporter of fundamental reforms to achieve that goal, including reforms to Section 230, enacting antitrust reforms, requiring more transparency, and more. “And he’s encouraged that there’s bipartisan interest in Congress,” she added.
“The president has long talked about his concerns about the power of social media platforms, including Twitter and others, to spread misinformation.”
Meanwhile, Biden administration officials are concerned Musk will allow former US President Donald Trump to return to Twitter after he reached a deal to acquire the social media company.
Earlier on Monday, Twitter’s board of directors accepted Musk’s $44 billion offer to buy the company, but the deal is still subject to shareholder and regulatory approval, according to reports.
The report said on Monday, citing sources, that Biden administration officials are concerned that misinformation on Twitter will increase under Musk’s control, which could be critical in the upcoming 2024 US presidential election.
However, Trump told Fox News he did not intend to return to Twitter, where he had 88 million followers before he was banned from the platform, which accused him of spreading false information that was blamed for fueling the riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Trump did not have much success launching his own social media company, Truth Social, in February.
Musk has repeatedly complained that free speech is restricted on Twitter. He said in a statement after the deal was reached that Twitter is a “digital town square” where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.
Musk also said Twitter has tremendous potential to unlock and he intends to enhance the platform with “new features, making algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating spam bots, and authenticating all humans.”
