Social media companies face global tug-of-war over free speech

President-elect Donald J. Trump and his allies have vowed to squash an online "censorship cartel" of social media firms that they say targets conservatives.

- CECILIA KANG & ADAM SATARIANO

Already, the president-elect's newly chosen regulators at the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission have outlined plans to stop social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube from removing content the companies deem offensive — and punish advertisers that leave less restrictive platforms like X in protest of the lack of moderation.

"The censorship and advertising boycott cartel must end now!" Elon Musk, the owner of X, whom Trump has appointed to cut the federal budget, posted on his site last month.

In Europe, social media companies face the opposite problem. There, regulators accuse the platforms of being too lax about the information they host, including allowing posts that stoked political violence in Britain and spread hate in Germany and France.