“The President’s Executive Order is the gravest assault on the right to free speech since the Nixon Administration, and an attempt to turn the open and advertising-supported internet into a political arm of the U.S. Government. It is a blatantly illegal attempt to stifle facts and opinions with which the Administration disagrees, by threatening the creators and the distributors of protected content with Government persecution and economic sanctions. It’s a familiar tactic of juntas in places like Pakistan and Argentina, and will not gain traction in the United States, because it clearly oversteps the bounds of Executive Authority, attempts to subvert more than 200 years of First Amendment law, won’t stand in court, and won’t gain Congressional approval. But there’s still reason for everyone, from CEO to average citizen, to be concerned, for in the longer term, this Administration’s continued attempts to subvert the Open Web threaten our economy, society, and form of government, which depend on the free flow of fact and opinion.”
– Randall Rothenberg, CEO, IAB
