Trump orders government not to infringe on Americans’ speech, calls for censorship investigation
President Donald Trump signs executive orders, including one involving perceived censorship, on stage at an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. Associated Press photo by Mark Schiefelbein
The Associated Press
President Donald Trump on Monday ordered that no federal officer, employee or agent may unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen, an early step toward his campaign promise to dismantle what he called government “censorship” of U.S. citizens.
The president’s executive order, issued just hours after he was sworn in to a second term, comes after Trump and his supporters have accused the federal government of pressuring social media companies to take down lawful posts over concerns around misinformation.
The order also instructs the attorney general, in consultation with other executive agency heads, to investigate how federal government actions over the four years of the Biden administration could have infringed on free speech and propose “remedial actions” based on the findings.
Trump’s order, which he signed onstage at Capital One Arena along with a slate of other executive actions, shows how motivated he is to crack down on what he calls the “censorship cartel” on his first day in office.
It’s a winning stance among his supporters, many of whom feel that the federal government has unfairly targeted lawful speech from right-wing voices.
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