Trump threatens to veto major defense bill unless Congress repeals Section 230

12/1/20
President Trump on Tuesday threatened to veto an annual defense bill authorizing nearly $1 trillion in military spending unless Congress opens the door for Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites to be held legally liable for the way they police their platforms. Trump delivered his ultimatum — calling for the repeal of a federal law known as Section 230 — in a pair of late-night tweets that transformed a critical national security debate into a political war over his unproved allegations that Silicon Valley’s technology giants exhibit systemic bias against conservatives. Unless the “very dangerous & unfair Section 230 is not completely terminated as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA),” Trump continued, “I will be forced to unequivocally VETO the Bill when sent to the very beautiful Resolute desk.” Section 230 is a broad, decades-old federal law that spares a wide array of sites and services from being held liable for the content posted by their users — and, in the process, the decisions about the posts, photos and videos that tech companies take down or leave online. It is considered one of the Web’s foundational laws, crafted in large part to facilitate free expression digitally.

Trump’s ultimatum arrives after he previously threatened to veto the roughly $740 billion defense bill, known as the NDAA, over a provision that would require the Pentagon to change the names of 10 military installations that recognize Confederate military officers who fought to preserve slavery. Trump has said he will not allow that to happen, and he grew angry when defense officials said that Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, whom Trump has since fired, and Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy had signaled openness to the bases being renamed. Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told The Washington Post in an interview last month that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has a policy against putting bills on the floor for a vote when they have a veto threat. But some Republicans in recent days have suggested a trade: Reforming Section 230 in exchange for the base-name changes that Democrats seek, according to a person familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity to describe the private conversations. Democrats largely have balked at the idea, the source said.

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• 1) US Army bases named after Confederate Generals and slave traders must keep these names. Trump has a love for the Confederacy (and slavery apparently).

• 2) Trump demands that Internet Section 230 be removed. This statute protects social media platforms from Trumps vindictiveness for pointing out when he is lying.

12/4/20
Bipartisan lawmakers are moving forward with a version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that does not include a repeal of key protections for tech companies, despite President Donald Trump's threat to veto a bill without the provision. A final draft of the NDAA revealed on Thursday does not include a repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, a law that allows tech companies to engage in good-faith moderation of third party content online while shielding them from legal liabilities related to the content. Twitter and Facebook have censored or labelled posts by Trump for spreading false or misleading information this year, notably including those focused on the president's evidence-free claims that mail-in ballots are rife with fraud. "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," Trump tweeted on Tuesday.

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