According to people close to the White House (and practically every news outlet), the President is drafting an executive order with the goal of dramatically punishing social media sites such as Twitter (TWTR) and Facebook (FB): "The draft order, which was reviewed by CNN, targets a law known as the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 of the legislation provides broad immunity to websites that curate and moderate their own platforms, and has been described by legal experts as 'the 26 words that created the internet.'"

The President's personal Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump, has approximately 80 million followers. Twitter has only 330 million active monthly users. What happens next?

Update: Twitter took the first step toward social media sanity. Trump countered with a threat and an executive order. Today, Twitter called out another Trump tweet for violating its T&C.

Is this just a series of PR stunts, or are we going to get a chance to rethink and rewrite the rules and regulations penned in the last century that separate platforms from publishers?

If we could actually rethink and rewrite the rules and regulations, whose worldview would prevail? Is anyone smart enough to know the "right" way to regulate the way that humans communicate?

From my perspective, the only thing worse than not regulating human communication would be regulating it, but that's just me. I welcome your thoughts.

In other news, watching the police arrest credentialed CNN reporter Omar Jimenez and his crew in Minneapolis this morning (circa 5:11amCT) made me shiver. Ordinarily, I would say we should just move on; after all, it's not productive to read too much into the bad judgement of a few young men in riot gear trying to get home safely after a long night of being scared out of their wits. But these are extraordinary times, and this unfortunate incident is certainly going to become a "thing." We'll revisit it as the story unfolds.

(BTW, the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, has apologized to CNN and taken full responsibility for the arresting officer's mistake. Omar was back in position reporting by 7:38am; he's a consummate professional and he comported himself in a way that all of us should aspire to.)

Most importantly for today, my heart goes out to George Floyd's family and friends. None of this is acceptable. His senseless murder, the violence, the root cause… America should be better than this.

It is tragic beyond words.

I'm looking forward to better days. 

Twitter took the first step toward social media sanity. Trump countered with a threat and an executive order. Today, Twitter called out another Trump tweet for violating its T&C. Is this just a series of PR stunts, or are we going to get a chance to rethink and rewrite the rules and regulations penned in the last century that separate platforms from publishers? If we could actually rethink and rewrite the rules and regulations, whose worldview would prevail? Is anyone smart enough to know the "right" way to regulate the way that humans communicate? From my perspective, the only thing worse than not regulating human communication would be regulating it, but that's just me. I welcome your thoughts. In other news, watching the police arrest credentialed CNN reporter Omar Jimenez and his crew in Minneapolis this morning (circa 5:11amCT) made me shiver. Ordinarily, I would say we should just move on; after all, it's not productive to read too much into the bad judgement of a few young men in riot gear trying to get home safely after a long night of being scared out of their wits. But these are extraordinary times, and this unfortunate incident is certainly going to become a "thing." We'll revisit it as the story unfolds. (BTW, the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, has apologized to CNN and taken full responsibility for the arresting officer's mistake. Omar was back in position reporting by 7:38am; he's a consummate professional and he comported himself in a way that all of us should aspire to.) Most importantly for today, my heart goes out to George Floyd's family and friends. None of this is acceptable. His senseless murder, the violence, the root cause… America should be better than this. It is tragic beyond words. I'm looking forward to better days.