President Donald Trump has thrown down the gauntlet: Take action on Section 230 or bring defense authorization to a screeching halt.
The president threatened to veto the National Defense Authorization Act unless section 230 is destroyed. Trump explained to his followers in a Dec. 2 tweet that Section 230 “is a liability shielding gift from the U.S. to ‘Big Tech’” and condemned it as “a serious threat to our National Security & Election Integrity.” Trump declared that “Our Country can never be safe & secure if we allow it to stand.”
Trump then proscribed a scorched-earth solution in a following tweet:
“.....Therefore, if the very dangerous & unfair Section 230 is not completely terminated as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), I will be forced to unequivocally VETO the Bill when sent to the very beautiful Resolute desk. Take back America NOW. Thank you!”
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects Big Tech platforms from legal liability from lawsuits for content that appears on their platforms, has become a household issue during Trump’s presidency.
Trump has chosen a decisive bargaining chip to address Section 230’s protections. The National Defense Authorization Act “is expected to authorize $740 billion of military funding,” unless it is blocked by the president’s gambit to crack down on Big Tech, Protocol explained.
This call for Section 230’s destruction is a departure from the White House’s previous proscribed approach.
The White House hosted a September roundtable calling for the overhaul of Section 230, a change that has massive implications for Big Tech and online speech. Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen explained how this potential overhaul to Section 230 will ensure that when Big Tech companies “moderate content in bad faith,” they will risk their Section 230 protections.
Regardless of which tactics they use, conservatives have good reason to be wary of Big Tech’s unchecked power. Big Tech tried to rig the election by working to silence the biggest political scandal in recent history.
Big Tech companies recently made headlines for censoring a New York Post article. The shocking revelation was released by the Post on Oct. 14. The report detailed purported emails from Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son Hunter and reportedly exposed the alleged scandalous dealings of both father and son in the Russia-bordering state of Ukraine.
Facebook responded by reducing the story’s circulation on its platform, crippling its ability to spread. Twitter responded by disabling the link to the story, claiming: “Warning: this link may be unsafe.” Twitter then censored the Post, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, the Trump Campaign and even the House Judiciary (a part of the United States government) for sharing the story.
Conservatives are under attack. Conservatives are under attack. Contact your local representative and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
