Are Silicon Valley’s days numbered?
President Trump late on Tuesday tweeted that he will veto the National Defense Authorization Act unless Congress repeals Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which currently protects the big social-media platforms from liability for content posted on them.
Detractors of Big Tech argue that these corporations should lose this protection because, in constantly censoring user content, they are behaving more like publishers (which are liable for the content they publish) than neutral platforms.
The length to which the social-media companies will go to protect the interests of the Democrat Party was seen in full force during the election, when platforms such as Google and Twitter censored content related to the New York Post’s reporting on a laptop formerly owned by Hunter Biden that revealed a number of unethical details about the Biden family.
The New York Post’s bombshell reporting showed e-mails from Hunter Biden that tied his former vice president father to his business dealings in Ukraine.
“Section 230, which is a liability shielding gift from the U.S. to “Big Tech” (the only companies in America that have it — corporate welfare!), is a serious threat to our National Security & Election Integrity. Our Country can never be safe & secure if we allow it to stand,” Trump tweeted. “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!”
The Justice Department sent a letter to Congress back in October that called for changes to the 25-year-old law that protects these companies from being sued over content posted on their sites.
Addressed to several congressional leaders, the DOJ letter read: “Today’s large online platforms hold tremendous power over the information and views available to the American people. It is therefore critical that they be honest and transparent with users about how they use that power.”
Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey, the CEOs of Facebook and Twitter, respectively, talked about the law in front of the Senate Commerce Committee in October.
“Section 230 is the most important law protecting internet speech. In removing Section 230, we will remove speech from the internet,” Dorsey said during his testimony.
Zuckerberg suggested that Congress “updates the law to make sure it is working as intended.”
“One important place to start would be making content moderation systems more transparent,” the Facebook chief added.
“Another would be to separate good actors from bad actors by making sure that companies can’t hide behind section 230 to avoid responsibility for intentionally facilitating illegal activity on their platforms. We are open to working with Congress on these ideas and more,” he said.
The president last week called Section 230 a threat to national security.
The New American has reported extensively on Facebook and other social media companies’ extensive ties to the Democrat Party and socialism, despite repeated claims of impartiality.
For example, Anna Makanju, Facebook’s global policy manager for content regulation, advised Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Ukraine policy while he served as vice president and defended him against charges of wrongdoing with regard to Ukraine when she spoke to the Washington Post last year.
Martin Sanchez, a Facebook algorithm employee, spent seven years as a government official in Venezuela and even created a website to promote the ideals of former socialist dictator Hugo Chávez before taking up work at the social-media giant.
Lead Stories, the “fact-checking” firm with which Facebook partners to police content, is staffed by Democratic Party donors and former CNN employees. Together, these employees total more than 100 years of experience with the Cable News Network. Notably, no donations from Lead Stories staff were made to Republicans.
Republicans have repeatedly dragged their feet on the issue of Big Tech, holding hearings that ultimately lead nowhere. It’s past time for definitive action, as the gatekeepers at the large social-media platforms, along with their allies in the establishment media, are making it all but impossible for the truth to get out to most Americans.
