President Donald Trump (R-Texas) on Christmas Eve again criticized Big Tech’s censorship rhetoric, calling on Congress to repeal Section 230. The president warned that such censorship is the beginning of communism.
Trump tweeted, “Twitter is frantically tagging tweets and selling the suppression of truth. Shows how dangerous they are, deliberately stifling free speech. Very dangerous for our country.”
“Does Congress know this is the beginning of communism?” Trump warned.
He went on to write, “Abolishing the culture is worse. Repeal Section 230!”
The Trump administration has repeatedly highlighted the risks posed by unbalanced censorship of user content by social media platforms, with Trump arguing that the companies’ actions restrict conservative views and stifle free speech. The president and the Justice Department have urged Congress to consider rolling back Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which imposes legal protections on companies that engage in censorship or political behavior.
Trump and some members of Congress have said that current U.S. law gives technology companies the privilege to target U.S. politicians with restrictions while simultaneously giving the green light and a free pass to counter-propaganda against the United States by the Chinese Communist Party, Iran and others.
As a result of this year’s U.S. election fraud controversy, Google, Twitter, and Facebook have continued to delete and suppress speech suggesting election fraud and fraudulent votes under the protection of Section 230, including Trump’s posts that were repeatedly hidden or labeled.
Trump previously condemned social media outlets such as Twitter for blocking the accounts of conservative Republican lawmakers in an attempt to suppress their efforts to reveal the truth. He said, “Only communist countries do that.”
Trump on Wednesday (Dec. 23) formally vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2021 after it failed to repeal legal protections for the social media giant, while also allowing the renaming of 10 military installations named after Confederate leaders.
Trump said the NDAA failed to make any meaningful changes to Section 230 of the Communications Regulatory Act – the legal provision that protects tech companies like Google, Twitter and Facebook from content lawsuits – despite calls from both parties.
“Failure to end Section 230 – the very dangerous national security risk it poses would make our intelligence efforts nearly impossible to execute because it lets everyone know what we are doing with our (intelligence) every step of the way.” Trump said in his veto letter.
He stressed, “Section 230 facilitates the online dissemination of foreign disinformation, which poses a serious threat to our national security and the integrity of our elections. It must be repealed.”
Trump also opposed the National Defense Authorization Act, which included a proposal to rename 10 military installations named after Confederate leaders, “I have been unequivocal in my opposition to politically motivated attempts to wash away history and shame our nation for its tremendous accomplishments in living up to our founding purposes.” He said.
The president said the current version of the NDAA is a “gift” to China (Communist Party of China) and Russia.
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