By Esther Babirye
WASHINGTON DC-US President Donald Trump has threatened to shut down some television stations that carry fake news. In one tweet, Trump outlined his thoughts “with all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks at what point is it appropriate to challenge their license? Bad for country!”
Trump has been irked by a report by NBC which alleged that he wanted to increase the nuclear arsenal by ten fold. In response to the report, Trump tweeted “Fake@NBCNews made up a story that I wanted a ten fold increase in our US nuclear arsenal. Pure fiction, made up to demean. NBC = CNN.”
Following his remarks, Trump has attracted criticism not the least from the Democratic Party. Democratic Senator Ed markey asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai, to resist Trump’s proposals.
“It is inappropriate for the president to propose challenging broadcasters licenses because he disagrees with their coverage. The First Amendment is the cornerstone of our democracy and the news media plays an instrumental role in educating the American public and holding elected officials accountable. Any insinuation that elected officials could use the levers of government to control or sensor the news media would represent a starting degradation of the freedom of press,” markey writes.
