Twitter Stock Moves Lower After Trump Threatens Section 230 Action

Twitter, Inc. (TWTR) shares fell more than 2% off of their reaction highs earlier this week after President Trump announced plans for an executive order that would enable regulators to rethink Section 230 – a law designed to protect tech companies from third-party content liability. The move comes shortly after Twitter flagged one of the president's tweets about mail-in voting fraud with a fact-checking label, drawing a bout of criticism.

While the executive order would mark an escalation in Trump's war against tech companies, the implementation would be up to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which are independent agencies. It's uncertain how these agencies would respond and assess the content moderation policies in place across social media platforms.

Facebook, Inc. (FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg told Fox News that "a government choosing to censor a platform because they're worried about censorship doesn't exactly strike me as the right reflex." He added that "Facebook shouldn't be the arbiter of truth for everything that people say online."

From a technical standpoint, Twitter stock fell from its reaction highs near the 200-day moving average back into its price channel. The relative strength index (RSI) moderated to 59.66, while the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) remained in a bullish uptrend. These indicators suggest that the stock's pullback could be temporary.

Traders should watch for some consolidation within the stock's well-established price channel over the coming sessions. If Twitter breaks out higher, traders could see a move back the 200-day moving average toward prior highs of $39.64 made back in February. If the stock breaks down, traders could see a move to the 50-day moving average at $27.75 over the coming sessions.

The author holds no position in the stock(s) mentioned except through passively managed index funds.