Broadband Roundup: Section 230 Fears, T-Mobile Claims 5G Rollout, Ajit Pai Challenges Twitter

President Donald Trump’s executive order potentially restricting protections for social media platforms like Twitter is a mistake, wrote Daniel Lyons, visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

The order would make tech companies liable for the content that is posted on their websites if they exercise any form of content moderation. Not only would Trump’s order mark a big step away from traditional conservatism’s squeamishness toward government interference in private business, Lyons argued, but it would force social media companies to patrol the entirety of the content posted on their sites.

This could create a scenario opposite to the one that Trump wants, and may “prove the 21st century equivalent of destroying the village in order to save it,” Lyons wrote.

“If Twitter is potentially liable for what I say, it will read it closely and approve every tweet before publishing…” he wrote. “The risk of residual liability would pose an existential threat to social media, eliminating Twitter as a tool for discourse.”

T-Mobile claims 5G coverage in every state

T-Mobile has rolled out 5G coverage in parts of all 50 states, CNET reported.

The carrier has become the first to accomplish this feat, which comes after they struck a deal with Alaskan carrier GCI. T-Mobile users can utilize the GCI service when roaming in Alaska, and GCI users can roam on T-Mobile networks when in other states.

The race to universal 5G has seen all major carriers invest large sums of money into infrastructure and development. But while T-Mobile, which recently merged with Sprint, says it has come out on top in the race for all 50 states, it still has a way to go to develop comprehensive coverage across those states.

Pai challenges Twitter on glorifying violence policies

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has challenged Twitter on its policy concerning tweets that glorify violence, Bloomberg reported.

“Serious question for @Twitter,” Pai tweeted. “Do these tweets from Supreme Leader of Iran @khamenei_ir violate ‘Twitter Rules about glorifying violence’?”

Pai added several screenshots of tweets from Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khameini, which called Israel a “deadly, cancerous growth and a detriment to this region.” The tweets also called for jihad and the “elimination of the Zionist regime.”

The challenge comes after Twitter disabled engagement on a tweet from President Trump last week saying that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” in what many viewed as an incitement to violence.