After the U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 on the 8th, the Senate also passed the House and Senate consensus version of the bill on the 11th. However, President Trump has tweeted that he will veto the bill if the House does not repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which threatens U.S. national security.
The U.S. Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 (NDAA FY21) with 84 votes in favor and 13 votes against after noon on the 11th. The bill has been voted on and passed by the House of Representatives, and now it can take effect as long as it is sent to the White House for Trump’s signature. After receiving the bill, Trump will have to decide within 10 days whether to sign it or exercise his veto power to return it to Congress.
In the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act, more than $700 billion of the U.S. defense budget is involved. Section 1260 expresses the views of Congress on the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances as the cornerstone of U.S.-Taiwan relations, Section 1260A deals with arms sales to Taiwan, Section 1260B proposes the U.S.-Taiwan Medical Security Partnership, and Section 9724 protects the fair employment practices of Taiwan citizens in international financial organizations.
In addition to continuing to express support for Taiwan and assisting Taiwan in building adequate self-defense capabilities, the bill also establishes a new flagship program for the “Pacific Deterrence Initiative” to strengthen U.S. alliances in the Indo-Pacific region and reinforce defense capabilities to deter the deployment of Chinese Communist military power force into this region.
However, as a result of this year’s U.S. election fraud controversy, Google, Twitter, and Facebook have continued to exercise deletion, control, and suppression of speech suggesting election fraud and fraudulent votes under the protection of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The postings, including Trump’s, were repeatedly hidden or labeled.
Trump raised the alarm via Twitter on Dec. 2 that if the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 fails to repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, he will directly veto the National Defense Authorization Act and “take back the United States immediately.
In a tweet, Trump said that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act poses a serious threat to national security and election integrity by providing space for large technology companies to evade their responsibilities, and that our nation will never be safe if the law is allowed to exist.
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act was passed in 1996, primarily to provide online platform operators with immunity from liability for infringing information or inappropriate content by others.
In response to Trump’s likely veto of the National Defense Authorization Act, members of the House Armed Services Committee have indicated that they will not rule out an additional session to override the president’s veto. According to the U.S. Constitution, if the president uses his veto to return the bill, the House and Senate can re-vote and both pass the bill with a 2/3 absolute majority to override the presidential veto.
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