The initiative seeks to make the press, content creators, and social media financially liable for false claims and baseless accusations.
US President Donald Trump has shared a video calling for a law that would make media outlets, content creators, and social media networks financially liable for making false claims and unsubstantiated accusations against anyone.
The president reposted a short clip on Truth Social that was originally published on TikTok by a woman going by the name Elly May. There, she calls on him and his administration to reinstate the Smith‑Mundt Act, which, according to her, “held news corporations accountable for lying to the American people and spreading propaganda instead of truth.”
A piece of Cold War-era legislation, the Smith‑Mundt Act was aimed at preventing domestic dissemination of US media content intended for foreign audiences, such as from Voice of America or Radio Liberty. Contrary to what May said in her video, it was not repealed under former US President Barack Obama and is still in force. It also has nothing to do with holding US news media accountable for spreading false narratives at home.
In the video, May also urged Trump to name it “the Charlie Kirk Act” after the conservative activist murdered this week. She accused the media of bringing “chaos, hatred, division, and anarchy all across this country” and also linked Kirk’s death to “constant hateful rhetoric” he faced online and in the media.
Trump did not comment on May’s video in his repost. A petition of a similar nature launched on Change.org on Saturday got nearly 43,000 signatures in about a day. Directed at Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, it also called on them to introduce strict penalties against news media, content creators, and social networks for spreading “false narratives,” baseless accusations or employing “unfair” censorship.
Kirk, 31, the founder of Turning Point USA, was killed while addressing students at a college in Orem, Utah, on Wednesday. A suspect arrested in connection to the case was “deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology,” according to Utah Governor Spencer Cox. In the wake of the incident, Trump vowed to pursue not only Kirk’s murderer but also what he called the “radical left” networks that fuel political violence.
Trump is a drunken cyclops in the China shop
An arsonist
Who flounders from one crisis to another
That he created
Say what?
Forgot your medication? This is not the herald or stuff.
The USA needs to abandon their century-old double-standards. One standard for themselves and the opposite for the rest of the world will never work in the long run – because bullies will always find themselves eventually isolated in the playground.
Hmmm sounds suspiciously like censorship to me. People can always sue for libel/defamation. Making that process easier and less costly would be a good thing.
Thought the same.
Fact-checking and prosecuting false statements by MS (corporate) media is essential, otherwise name it what it is: propaganda.
However, censoring the other’s voice, freedom of speech, opinions is stifling discussion, a thing Charlie Kirk gave his life for.
Thank you DTNZ for enabling the comment section to show what real FREE speech ought to look like. There is NO other publication in NZ (or maybe worldwide) that has that feature.
And thank you to the commentators for keeping the tone civil and discourse informative.
Lol it’s all propaganda on both sides, & what’s really funny is now that Trump is using the ‘liberal’ playbook that everybody was screaming about, now you’re cheering him on…
Yes, and this is not the only Act/Bill that they are proposing to further restrict our freedoms and rights.
No disrespect to Charlie, but he knew he was putting himself in harm’s way. The murder of the Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska by the Ni&&a was more tragic in my opinion, and that issue needs more sunshine than Charlie’s.
Zippo, I respected your opinions, but your thoughtless comment is…well…thoughtless. While both murders are absolutely disgusting and have to be thoroughly condemmed, I want to put it to you that Charlie’s death has far more implications and therefore tragic.
So the globalist elite are going to use this event to instigate the censorship of any media channel they do not directly control. Don’t be surprised if “Dame” Jacinda Ardern ends up on the panel deciding if something is “misinformation”.