[T]he president of the United States signed an order that’s meant to cripple many of America’s most powerful internet companies... America’s most powerful internet companies have... not [said] much publicly... Google [said]: “We have clear content policies and we enforce them without regard to political viewpoint. Our platforms have empowered a wide range of people and organizations from across the political spectrum, giving them a voice and new ways to reach their audiences. Undermining Section 230 in this way would hurt America’s economy and its global leadership on internet freedom.”

... That order... is aimed at neutering or abolishing Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act... [which] says tech companies can’t be held liable for most things their users put on their platforms... Section 230 is crucial to your business if you’re a “platform” company like Twitter, Facebook, or Google’s YouTube, which all depend on user-generated content. It’s also potentially important for Amazon...

... What’s different now?... A few things, according to tech executives I’ve talked to.

• The most straightforward explanation: Many big tech companies — along with most legal observers — think this executive order won’t survive the legal challenges it will immediately face...
• Trump says all kinds of things he doesn’t believe or has no intention of doing...
• many executives think it’s really aimed at Twitter since that’s the platform that started fact-checking and flagging Trump’s messages...