What Next | Daily News and Analysis TBD | Did The Trump Administration Censor Speech?
Oct 26, 2025
Renée DiResta, an expert on online misinformation and a research professor at Georgetown, dives deep into the controversial topic of government influence on tech platforms. She discusses the Trump administration's explicit tactics to moderate speech, contrasting it with past accusations against the Biden administration. Renée clarifies the nuance between coercion and persuasion in government outreach, especially regarding COVID misinformation. She also advocates for greater transparency to build public trust in these interactions.
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Role Reversal In Government Platform Requests
- The Trump administration publicly acknowledged requesting platform takedowns despite previously accusing Democrats of censorship.
- Renée DiResta found the public brag surprising because it lacked transparent evidence justifying the outreach.
Research Team Became Target Of Censorship Claims
- Renée DiResta and her Stanford team flagged ~4,000 URLs during 2020 and platforms ignored about 65% of them.
- Jim Jordan later turned their post-election tweet count into a claim they had 'censored' 22 million tweets.
Persuasion Versus Coercion Matters
- Government-platform communications are long-standing and often framed as persuasion, not coercion.
- The coercion line matters legally and emerges when governments threaten regulatory or financial consequences.