---
title: "Trump signs executive order to stop “government censorship” online"
description: "Plus, a closer look at Americans’ experiences with news on TikTok"
date: "2025-01-23"
authors:
  - name: "snaseer"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/newsletter/the-briefing/trump-signs-executive-order-to-stop-government-censorship-online/"
---

# Trump signs executive order to stop “government censorship” online

**☀️ Happy Thursday!** *The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information*.* [**Sign up here!**](https://www.pewresearch.org/sign-up-for-the-briefing/)*

**In today*’*s email:**

- **Featured story:** Trump signs executive order to stop “government censorship” on social media

- **New from Pew Research Center:** A closer look at Americans’ experiences with news on TikTok

- **In other news:** CNN to lay off hundreds of staffers

- **Looking ahead:** More than a dozen Fox News alumni to serve in Trump’s second administration

- **Chart of the week:** TikTok news consumers are just as likely to get news from influencers or celebrities as from the media

🔥 **Featured story**

**President Donald Trump** [signed an executive order on his first day back in office](https://apnews.com/article/trump-executive-order-censorship-misinformation-social-media-b344d8c75463990ff6e782bc836bb337) to **immediately stop all **“**government censorship”** and ensure free speech. The order claims that the federal government had previously infringed on free speech rights under the guise of combating misinformation.

[Between 2018 and 2023](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/07/20/most-americans-favor-restrictions-on-false-information-violent-content-online/), a growing share of Americans said that the **U.S. government should take steps to restrict false information online,** even if it limits freedom of information. Overall, the share who expressed this view in 2023 (55%) exceeded the share who said freedom of information should be protected, even if it means false information can be published (42%). There are large differences by political party on this question, with Democrats much more likely to support government restrictions on false information.

**Americans also favor more rather than less regulation of Big Tech companies.** When asked in a [February 2024 survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2024/04/29/americans-views-of-technology-companies-2/) whether the government should regulate major technology companies more, less or at its current level, 51% said these companies should be regulated more than they are now, versus just 16% who said there should be less regulation. And 31% said the level of regulation should stay the same.

🚨 **New from Pew Research Center**

**TikTok **is [back online in the U.S.](https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/20/tech/tiktok-future-donald-trump-ban-sale/index.html) following President Trump’s delay of a federal ban. Our research has documented the site’s rise as an **important news source for many Americans.** At the same time, relatively few of the TikTok accounts that Americans follow are journalists or news accounts.

Dive into the details about how Americans get news on TikTok in [our new roundup](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/01/17/a-closer-look-at-americans-experiences-with-news-on-tiktok/).

📬 **You’re invited**!

Save the date! Pew Research Center is hosting a virtual panel discussion on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, from noon to 1 p.m. EST. Our panelists will discuss influencers as a source of information about current events and civic issues in the U.S. The event is free and open to the public. **[Register here.](https://pewresearch.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=434f5d1199912232d416897e4&id=0ce5e52973&e=a43f391fce)**

📌 **In other news**

- **CNN **to [lay off hundreds of employees](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/22/cnn-to-lay-off-hundreds-of-employees-post-inauguration.html) as it builds out digital products

- **Murdoch-owned tabloids **apologize to **Prince Harry** as part of [settlement over invasion of privacy](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/01/22/prince-harry-murdoch-sun-trial-settlement/)

- New **FCC chair** reinstates [complaints against major TV networks](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/22/fcc-reinstates-complaints-abc-cbs-nbc) for election coverage

- How the **Tulsa Local News Initiative** aims to [expand the city’s local journalism](https://www.niemanlab.org/2025/01/the-tulsa-local-news-initiative-combines-old-and-new-to-shore-up-the-citys-information-ecosystem/)

- **Meta** attempts to [attract TikTok creators to post on Reels](https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/21/meta-lures-tiktok-creators-with-5k-bonuses-content-deals-free-verification/) with bonuses, deals and free verification

- **Inauguration TV viewership** was the [lowest since 2013](https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5099993-inauguration-tv-viewership-low/)

- [Bloomberg analysis](https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-youtube-podcast-men-for-trump/#selection-8111.323-8111.410) looks at **YouTubers’ impact on young men** in the presidential election

📅 **Looking ahead**

A substantial number of former **Fox News** hosts, commentators, producers and other personnel – by [one count](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/19/business/media/trump-fox-news-cabinet.html), as many as 19 – are poised to occupy roles in the **new Trump administration, **raising questions about how the cable news channel will cover the executive branch.** **This includes **Pete Hegseth, **the nominee for defense secretary who previously co-hosted Fox & Friends.

Fox News remains one of Americans’ primary sources for political news. Half of U.S. adults say Fox News is either a major (22%) or minor (28%) source of political and election news for them, with Republicans much more likely to say this, according to a [Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2024/10/10/where-americans-turn-for-election-news/) conducted in September 2024. And in an open-ended question on the same survey, Fox News was the most common single outlet that Americans named as their [main source of political news](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/10/31/americans-top-sources-of-political-news-ahead-of-the-2024-election/), at 13%.

📊 **Chart of the week**

This week’s chart comes from [our new roundup of data on how Americans get news on TikTok](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/01/17/a-closer-look-at-americans-experiences-with-news-on-tiktok/).

Among U.S. adults who say they regularly get news on TikTok,** just as many say they ever get news on the site from influencers or celebrities (68%) as from news outlets or journalists (67%),** according to a [March 2024 survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2024/06/12/tiktok-users-experiences-with-news/#how-people-get-news-on-tiktok) from the [Pew-Knight Initiative](https://www.pewresearch.org/pew-knight/).

And an even higher share (84%) say they **get news from other people they don’t know personally** who are *not* influencers or celebrities, news outlets or journalists, or advocacy or nonprofit organizations.

![A bar chart showing that TikTok news consumers are just as likely to get news from influencers or celebrities as from the media.](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/SR_25.01.17_tiktok-roundup_3.webp?w=640)

*👋 That's all for this week. *

The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Jacob Liedke, Sarah Naseer, Christopher St. Aubin, Luxuan Wang and Emily Tomasik. It is edited by Michael Lipka and copy edited by David Kent.

*Do you like this newsletter? Email us at [journalism@pewresearch.org](mailto:journalism@pewresearch.org) or fill out this [two-question survey](https://us1.list-manage.com/survey?u=434f5d1199912232d416897e4&id=449f3c3d35&attribution=false) to tell us what you think*.