Trump revokes Biden executive order on addressing AI risks
WASHINGTON, USA – US President Donald Trump on Monday, January 20, revoked a 2023 executive order signed by Joe Biden that sought to reduce the risks that artificial intelligence poses to consumers, workers and national security.
Biden’s order required developers of AI systems that pose risks to US national security, the economy, public health or safety to share the results of safety tests with the US government, in line with the Defense Production Act, before they were released to the public.
Trump also signed an order which he said aimed at “restoring freedom of speech and ending federal censorship.”
Trump and his conservative allies had accused the administration of Biden of suppressing free speech on online platforms.
“Over the last 4 years, the previous administration trampled free speech rights by censoring Americans’ speech on online platforms, often by exerting substantial coercive pressure on third parties, such as social media companies, to moderate, de-platform, or otherwise suppress speech that the Federal Government did not approve,” the White House said.
“Under the guise of combatting ‘misinformation,’ ‘disinformation,’ and ‘malinformation,’ the Federal Government infringed on the constitutionally protected speech rights of American citizens across the United States in a manner that advanced the Government’s preferred narrative about significant matters of public debate. Government censorship of speech is intolerable in a free society,” the White House added.
Trump, who took office on Monday, himself faced social media restrictions after an attack on the US Capitol by his supporters on January 6, 2021, following his loss in the 2020 election to Biden. On Monday, he pardoned about 1,500 people who stormed the US Capitol, in a sweeping gesture of support to the people who assaulted police as they tried to prevent lawmakers from certifying his 2020 election defeat.
Billionaire Elon Musk, a Trump ally, has since bought X, formerly called Twitter, where Trump’s account was restored and content moderation loosened after Musk’s purchase.
In recent weeks, Meta PlatformsMETA.O CEO Mark Zuckerberg met Trump and the social media company has scrapped its US fact-checking program and reduced curbs on discussions around contentious topics such as immigration and gender identity.
The US Constitution’s First Amendment protects free speech and applies to government policies. – Rappler.com