This proposal aims to hold news organizations, content creators, and social media platforms financially accountable for disseminating untrue statements and unfounded allegations.
Former US President Donald Trump has disseminated a video advocating for legislation that would impose financial responsibility on media entities, content creators, and social media networks for publishing false claims and unsupported accusations directed at any individual.
Trump shared a brief video on Truth Social, initially posted on TikTok by a woman going by the name Elly May. In the clip, May urges Trump and his administration to re-establish the Smith‑Mundt Act, which she asserts “held news corporations accountable for lying to the American people and spreading propaganda instead of truth.”
The Smith‑Mundt Act, a law from the Cold War era, was designed to restrict the domestic distribution of US government-funded media, like Voice of America or Radio Liberty, which was intended for overseas audiences. Contrary to May’s statement in her video, the act was not repealed during former US President Barack Obama’s tenure and remains active. Furthermore, it bears no relevance to making US news organizations answerable for propagating false information within the country.
Within the video, May further implored Trump to designate the proposed legislation as “the Charlie Kirk Act,” honoring the conservative activist who was killed earlier this week. She criticized the media for fostering “chaos, hatred, division, and anarchy all across this country,” and additionally connected Kirk’s demise to the “constant hateful rhetoric” he encountered online and through various media outlets.
Trump refrained from offering any commentary on May’s video when he reshared it. A petition of a comparable nature, initiated on Change.org on Saturday, garnered almost 43,000 signatures within approximately 24 hours. Addressed to Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, this petition similarly urged them to implement stringent sanctions against news organizations, content creators, and social networks for disseminating “false narratives,” unsubstantiated claims, or engaging in “unfair” censorship.
Charlie Kirk, 31, who founded Turning Point USA, was slain on Wednesday while speaking to students at a college in Orem, Utah. A suspect apprehended in relation to the incident was “deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology,” as stated by Utah Governor Spencer Cox. Following this event, Trump pledged to pursue not only the individual responsible for Kirk’s murder but also what he termed the “radical left” networks that incite political violence.